Simply Princely
by PsychicDash
Summary: Ness hates being a prince, but what can he do? Nothing. The problems of being a prince are not helping at all either, like being betrothed, having a strict father, etc. And having his feelings fooled with at the same time is far from resolving. Especially if it turns into love. With a boy...?
1. A Start

**Hooray! New story by me! However, there are some things I'd like to state.  
In this story, there'll be NessXClaus. BUT there will also be NessXPaula. If you don't like, or have some _intense_ hate in your heart for that ship (in other words, you'd obliterate the earth or cry just because you see NessXPaula), I suggest you don't read! However, that ship isn't even what I'm attacking at, or proving my point with. It is for plot only, and to fit in with the story. They're more like friends in my head!  
****Also, another thing is that this story, is like a story in a story. OKAY WELL, to put it more simply, the things I'll put into it won't exactly be accurate with the game. I'm just using the characters and putting them into a COMPLETELY different story of their own. Wait... didn't this have a name? I think it's AU? YEAH! AU. There we freaking go!  
That's mostly it. I hope you take your time to read and enjoy! And sorry for not updating as usually as I do! **

* * *

A boy sat at his father's desk. He was dressed in a navy blue royal garment. His jet black hair laid tidily on his forehead, perfectly framing his head. Satin-like skin was what he had, not a blemish in sight.

He sighed boringly as he put an elbow to his father's desk, and leaned his head against his hand. His eyes were half-lidded, about to fall asleep. His facial expression wasn't that far from uninterested. Because at this moment, his father, the king was giving him yet _another_ one of his father-son lectures, or how he would've put it. His mother, the queen, sat back and watched.

"Son, you're a _prince_. It's about time that you start acting like one! And even more importantly, it's time you were seen as one. The meeting of your _betrothed_ will be coming in two days!" his elder demanded. He paced back and forth.

"Okay..." the boy trailed off. He started to tap his fingers on the desk from impatience while yawning at the same time.

His father furrowed his eyebrows. He took out a thin, extendable stick and smacked his son's arm that he leaned his head upon. The young prince grimaced and held his arm in pain.

"A prince does _not_ lean!" his dad scolded. Then dropped his head in defeat. "Oh, there is certainly no hope for you, is there? It is as if you were never meant to even _be_ a prince!"

The young prince winced, saying nothing. When, without permission, he got up, and walked out of the room. He slammed the door shut as he exited.

The king sighed.

"Oh, darling." The queen got up from her seat and came to comfort her husband. She put a gentle arm around his shoulder.

"I just want him to be the best prince he could be. I want him to show all the people of Eagleland that they have someone to look up to when you and I pass away."

"I understand. But do you not think you were being a little harsh? He is still only a child!"

"He is _14, _my dear. A young man. If this keeps up, the residents of Eagleland will fall. They already think that the empire is doomed at this very moment!"

The queen's expression softened. Then she nodded. She knew her husband was right. The prince has lived in the castle grounds since his birth. Home-schooled, and never allowed outside, for royalty shouldn't show itself in the common grounds without it being for a big ceremony.

The wife brought her beloved into an embrace. "Do not fret, I am sure we will think of something."

"Hopefully soon enough," the king breathed. "Oh, _Ness._"

* * *

The young prince laid lazily across his bed, letting out his feelings with only a servant to hear. However, it wasn't just any servant, he was his only close friend.

The servant was age 26. He wore a royal servant's outfit, that looked close to a butler's dressings. It was a bit tattered from his recent ventures through the castle. Also, his hair was a comforting brown, swept to the side to keep it professionally presented. He also had a beard and mustache. Along with that, one of his legs was badly injured, thus, making him limp often. Although, he can still run as fast as the next person. His job was to, not clean, but to keep the people _who _clean, on track. And to deliver messages throughout the castle, and help when needed. His name was Duster.

"Why is my dad such a... such a-" Ness was furious. He nearly tore his hair off. At the moment, he was at a loss of words, not wanting to swear in his father's name.

"Calm down, Your Royal Highness!" The servant sedated. "Instead of taking your feelings out on me, why not just _tell _your father or mother how you really feel?"

"I can't! And that's what sucks! They'd never understand!" Ness snapped in a vulgar language that he hid away from his parents. "It's only 'Do this' or 'Do that'! I have to live by their rules. I have to play their game within their expectation. I have no say in anything..." The boy got up from his bed and walked over to his large window that allowed the sun to shine brightly throughout his room. He looked out the opaque glass, and down at the kingdom beyond. There it was, the peaceful kingdom of Eagleland. And within that kingdom were people, or commoners, as his guardians would put it. However, Ness never addressed them that way. In his state of mind, there was no difference between the people of Eagleland, and the nobles in the castle at this very moment.

Duster looked at how focused Ness was at the village. "...You really want it, don't you?"

"Yes, _please_. I'd give anything for it!" Ness' brilliant violet eyes sparkled in the sun's rays. It displayed hope. "I want to live amongst the citizens! I want to live inside a house rather than a castle! I want the ability to do as my heart wishes! I want to be _free_!"

"You know, anyone of the citizens would just _love_ to swap places with you," Duster pointed out.

"I'd happily oblige!" Ness smiled brightly. "Living in this castle is hell. Sure, you can get anything you want, but materials can't measure up to what a human wants internally. Face it, as long as I'm here, my life is set for one path and one path only. To be king."

"Wait, you don't _want_ to be king?" the servant asked surprisingly.

"Does it _look_ like I want to be king?" Ness asked in a 'no duh' tone.

"Not really."

"Great! You're learning! Good boy."

"Shut up, I'm years older than you."

They both laughed at that.

"Ah... You see, you can't speak like that in this castle. But in the kingdom we rule, you most likely can." Ness smirked. "If you told me to shut up in front of any duke, duchess, or anything, you'd probably be executed." He traced a finger across his neck.

The servant started panicking. "DON'T TELL ANYONE! AH!"

Ness was sent into a fit of laughter. "Don't worry! As if I'd tell anyone! Telling me 'Shut up' feels as if you're treating me as an equal." Always, the prince hated the discrimination between commoners and people of the royal family. However, he knew it was for the best. Without a king or queen to lead the land, everything would fall into a pit.

"Oh thank goodness! Don't scare me like that, Your Royal Highness!" Duster smiled in relief.

"But scaring you is fun!" Ness said cheerfully. "By the way, you don't need to call me 'Your Royal Highness'. Just call me...er... 'Ness'."

Duster's eyes widened. "Really, Your Hi- I mean, _Ness_. Oh~ that has a nice ring to it!"

Ness grinned at his excitement.

"Thank you very much, Ness!" the servant said. Then for a moment, he looked at his watch. "Oh, my break is over. I must go now. See you!"

The young prince waved him off as his friend walked out of the room. After he was gone, Ness went back to staring longingly through the glass window. He examined the beautiful land, and the beautiful people within it. He sighed.

"I don't even know if I'm ready to take care of all of you... but when the time comes, I hope all of you will just believe in me," he said to himself. In his heart, he had hopes for becoming a citizen and leaving the castle, but at the same time, he accepted his fate to become king. "I'm the only thing they'll have when my parents pass away."

He was sad about that, but remained optimistic. "But... my parents aren't dead yet, _and_ I'm still only 14, so..." He smirked, as an idea popped into his head. One with serious consequences.

* * *

The king and queen sat thoughtfully in the Grand Study Room. Within that room were shelves of books on the walls, and in the middle was a table for 10 that was layered with biscuits and tea. Right now, with the king and queen, were dukes, duchesses, earls, etc. There were 10 altogether in the room. They were friends of the king and queen, gathered for a meeting.

"So..." The king cleared his throat. "I am sure of it that you know what you all were gathered here for?"

"The prince." they said altogether. They didn't even sound unsure, it was a pure statement. The king and queen nodded.

"Yes... h-how did you know of this?" the queen questioned.

"The prince's vulgar and rebellious acts says it all," an annoying voice, that came from a duke, said.

"I agree," an earl popped in.

"I wonder where the prince even learned such ways of acting," another commented.

"Are you sure you raised your child right?"

The nasty comments just kept on coming, one after another, and the king and queen just accepted it. However, after they couldn't take it anymore, they shouted.

"SILENCE!" they boomed throughout the room. This silenced every single one of them, maybe even scared some.

"We have brought you here not to judge our son and us, but to get ideas," the king snapped. Everyone was ears. "As you said, our son is a bit... not as prince-like as he should be, but maybe we could fix that. Any opinions one would like to share?"

A marquess raised his hand.

"Yes?" The king chose him.

"Sir, it may not be in my right to tell you what to do and what not to do, but please lend me an ear," he said. The king put his attention of him. "If your son is acting un-princelike, does that not mean he is facing problems of his own? Maybe if those are solved, your problems with him will be solved as well."

"Oooh..." everyone in the room nodded their heads thoughtfully.

Then another spoke, a duchess. "Yes, that seems like a great idea. But how will one know if the young prince is facing problems? Moreover, _what_ they are?"

"Ah, you're right," the queen said. She then looked over to her husband. "Dear, I think you know how to do that." She gave him an expression of expectation.

"...How?" The king sweatdropped.

"Talk to your son."

"But-"

"_Please_."

Everyone in the room looked at the king. The king gave in.

"Oh- _fine!_" The man stood up from his chair at the table. "If this does not end well, it will not be my fault!"

Most people of the room giggled at that, including the queen.

"Do not worry, dear. He is your son," the queen told the king as he walked out of the Grand Study Room.

After that, the king walked hesitantly towards his son's bedroom. He wasn't scared or anything, but he was just... nervous. One could easily tell that he and his son weren't close, which they weren't. The king was much too busy to establish a true father-son relationship with Ness. And he was pretty sure that his son disliked him in a way too. All he wanted was the best for him, but he just wasn't complying. The king wasn't sure why. He didn't know what went on in his son's head. And now, he was going to find out. That is, if Ness even chooses to open up to him.

Standing at the door to his son's room, he knocked quietly at first, then with more confidence. "Son!" he called.

No answer.

"Son!" the king called again.

No answer.

"I am sorry if you are a bit mad at me this afternoon, but I request a meeting with you."

Still no answer.

The king held back his slowly arising anger. "If you aren't going to open up, I shall come in myself!" Then without further ado, the king opened the door. When he looked inside, to his surprise, no one was there. "Hm, he must be somewhere else...?" the king told himself. He was a bit panicked, due to the fact that the prince usually spends most of his time in his room, but he kept calm, and called over the nearest maid.

"Maid! Report to all the servants of the hold to search for the young prince," he demanded. The servant nodded intensely.

"Yes, sir! Right away, sir!" she said loudly, then darted off to spread the word. The king went back to the Study, where everyone still remained.

"How did it go, dear?" the queen questioned.

"He wasn't in his room, but one should not worry, he must be around the castle somewhere," said the king, still a little nervous. "All that is required is patience."

And that's exactly what they all did. _Wait_. Wait and wait and wait and wait. It wasn't until half an hour that Duster came rushing into the Study.

"SIR!" he shouted.

"What is it?!" the king asked uneasily.

"THE YOUNG PRINCE IS GONE!"

The queen, who was sitting next to the king, spit out her tea, onto him. Surprisingly, the king didn't let that bother him. Feeling the tea running down his rosy cheeks, the king yelled at the top of his voice, "ALERT THE GUARDS! ALERT THE MILITARY! THE PRINCE HAS GONE MISSING!"

* * *

**That's it, and more to come! I've actually started on this earlier, so I got a few chapters finished with already. Just need to edit them. OH OH! And if you didn't enjoy, or this didn't spark your interest, it's okay.** **Shh...Shhh... *puts a finger to your mouth* Just go cut some firewood. **

**AND STAY AWESOME! :D**


	2. Trouble

**What the hell... is it me, or does the font look smaller when I'm editing? IF SOMETHING'S WRONG AFTER I PUBLISH THIS, I'M SORRY. Other than that, please enjoy! I'm telling ya, I'm getting lazier as I age. I just finished my semester exams last week and- JESUS CHRIST THANK FREAKING GOD YES IT'S FINALLY OVER! **

* * *

Feeling that he finally put his time to good use, Ness grinned. He was wearing the most worst clothes he could find in the castle, ones that would blend into the society around him. Black and slightly tattered shorts, brown shoes with tiny rips in the soles, a black cap to cast a shadow over his face, a white collared shirt, and a black sweater vest covering over it. He found this getup in Duster's room inside the castle. He snuck in. He decided it must have been his outgoing clothes when he was a kid.

So far, Ness has only been outside for about 5 minutes and he was already enjoying what he was seeing. Markets selling fresh fruit, a baker's store that's displaying new cakes, and kids of many running around having fun. Everyone was on the go, with things to do and get done. Ness loved the liveliness of the town. It really differed from that in the castle. Back in the castle, there was barely anything happening. Only meetings, and balls that his dad, the king, would throw for celebrations. Even then, it was _still_ boring. There were no kids his age.

And speaking of the castle, it wasn't even hard for Ness to escape. He didn't expect for the gatekeepers to be so stupid. Not to mention, such _pushovers_.

Anyways, leaving that aside, Ness decided to go exploring. He made sure to bring money with him (which was in a brown sack that is tied to his waist) to buy some souvenirs. First, he walked around the whole square to get a feel for the place before entering any stores. Once he did, the first place he went into was the bakery.

After flipping the door open, he was greeted to the smell of baking bread. It _wooshed_ over him. The scent made was the greatest thing he's ever smelled.

"'Ello there, little boy!" The portly baker waved his hand. "Likin' the smell o' the bread, aren't ye?"

"Sure am!" Ness said, looking around at all the treats. His mouth watered.

"Hehe, well help yourself! There's plenty to go around! They're free too."

Ness' eyes widened. "They're all free?"

"Yes- well, the first 3 are free, you'll have to pay for the rest. Say you want cookies. The first 3 will be free."

"Woah... thank you!"

"Hey, don't thank me, thank our rulers. The way they rule the town and the people in it is perfect. They make sure we're all taken care of. We can only treasure what time we have left."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Ness chewed on a cookie.

"You haven't heard? Rumor has gone around that once the prince takes over, all of hell will come. As in, the town's economy will sink. I know the prince is young, and it'll be years till he becomes king, but we can't help but be anxious!"

Ness' jaw dropped.

The baker saw the worry in Ness' eyes. "Eh, but don't worry! Rumors are rumors! Most are untrue, ye know?"

"O-Oh... I see." The prince felt worried and sad to find that the townspeople think of him that way.

"Ah, chin-up me boy." The baker put a bag of buttered biscuits in his hands. "I believe the prince will figure something out, all we can do is have faith in him."

With that, Ness led himself out of the store. He took a moment to stop and think.

_Everyone thinks I'll be a terrible prince_.

The young boy shook his head. No! He shouldn't be thinking that way. But if he doesn't think that way, how _should _he think then? Stressed feelings overcame Ness.

However, it all ended when he spotted two guards on horses from the castle.

"UH OH-" Ness dashed behind a nearby barrel as they passed by. They stopped to ask a subject a question.

"Excuse me, have you seen the prince?" The guard held up a flyer with a picture of Ness on it.

Ness gasped as he saw the flyer they were holding.

The person shook his head no, and the guards continued on.

Now that he looks around, Ness started noticing the flyers everywhere. Under his name was a money award for his return, $100,000.

"Are they _serious?" _Ness said aloud to himself, tearing down a flyer. "I'm only worth $100,000? I expected myself to be worth at _least _a million!" He facepalmed. "All well, at least this picture isn't half-bad."

The flyers may have been numerous, but the guards weren't. The kingdom was huge, so there'd only be a few at each place. And he has a good disguise on anyway. So Ness concluded that he'd just continue on his exploration, but with a bit more caution.

The next place he went was the market place, which was outside. They had a little wooden stand where they'd display their products on. There, Ness went to lots of them and bought some stuff. They include cool looking roped bracelets and necklaces, collectible seashells, and a mini catapult. It was all carried in a paper bag. The things he bought were pretty pricey (through a commoner's point of view), but even in the end, he had a lot of money left.

Other than his buyings, along with that, he even made a few friends with the salespeople. The toy seller's name was George. He was a nice, old white man. He looked like Santa Claus to spare the details. Another person he became familiar with was the woman who made the roped bracelets and necklaces. Her name was Juney. The last person he befriended was the fruit seller (named Jerold) that kept forcing bruised apples on him.

_Ah... so fun! _Ness thought. He felt the freedom of being independent as he ventured. _Absolutely nothing could ruin this day! Unless a guard caught me. That would be bad. But what else should I even look out for? This town as nicer than expected!_

However, that thought ended. Because the day did indeed, find its way to ruin itself.

As Ness strolled through a clear alley to get to the other side of a city quicker, something unexpected happened to him. Someone has been following him. At first, Ness figured he should just ignore it, until he heard the figure's footsteps turn into running. When that happened, he immediately turned around. _Mistake_.

A fist connected with his cheek dead-on. The prince fell to the hard cemented floor and dropped all the things he was carrying. As soon as he did so, the attacker went for it and took off with everything. Getting a grip of himself, Ness ran after him.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" Ness chased. He tried looking at the figure, finding someway to identify him. Hair color, facial features, anything. But he couldn't. The figure had on a hat, in which the rim shadowed his face.

"Hahaha! Loser!" the figure teased. That angered the prince even more. A few feet behind the attacker, the two continued the great chase towards the end of the alley, and into another part of town. There were many people, but not enough to shield the figure away from Ness. People momentarily took a moment to stare at them, but went on with their day as soon as they were out of sight.

The more time passed, the more Ness got closer. That started making the one running away, nervous. Ness could tell by how the person was stumbling and almost running into people. Soon enough, Ness was a hair's length away, and took this chance to take the target down.

_...NOW!_

Ness grappled the boy and brought both of them to the ground. They both hit the floor harshly, knocking both of their caps off, as well as the goods. A dazed feeling came upon them, but Ness took this time to see who stole from him. His eyes widened. It was a _boy_! A boy with emerald eyes, and orange hair that had a crazy cowlick. The boy stared back and growled at him. Ness' hair was messed up completely and layered over his face, so the other couldn't tell he was the prince. Even so, Ness growled back too and held the boy down. He punched him across the face just as hard as he did. And a rowdy fight commenced between the two boys.

Because of the huge commotion, a crowd formed around the two. Some people yelling, 'Fight, fight, fight!' and others simply worrying. This dragged attention to the guards, and made them approach the boys.

"HEY! BOYS!" the guards called terrifyingly. Ness and the orange haired boy stopped. As they came forth, the unknown boy took this time to escape. He wiggled out of Ness' grasp and ran for his life, taking Ness' things with him. He smirked evilly at Ness as he ran. That angered Ness to no end. He'd never be able to forget that smirk.

Ness was about to run too, but it was too late for him. Some other guards went after the other boy, but he ended up getting away. One of the guards picked up Ness by the collar of his shirt.

"YOU AREN'T GOING ANYWHERE, BOY!" he yelled. This terrified Ness. "Tell me, is it your _job_ to start fights in town?"

"N-No I-"

The guard shook Ness angrily. "YOU DISGRACE!"

"B-BUT I-"

"ENOUGH! You broke the law-" The guard stopped mid-sentence. He stared at Ness with big brown eyes. Then, with all the silence in the world, he whispered. "...Is that you... Your Royal Highness?"

Ness nodded. The guard looked surprise, _too_ surprised, but he reacted quickly. He did so by putting a big hand around Ness' face. So far, no one of the crowd recognized him as the prince yet, and they didn't want him to be anytime soon.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! CLEAR OUT! NOTHING TO SEE HERE!" he boomed. Everyone did as told, and slowly cleared out and went back to their lives again.

Regrouping all the guards back again, they called off the prince disappearance. All of them returned to their regular posts around the entire town. Except for 5 of them, which escorted the prince back to the castle, making sure no one saw his face on the way.

Ness was petrified. He knew the consequences of being caught, but he was entirely sure that he wouldn't be. He has expected to arrive home unnoticed, and just tell his father and mother he was exploring the deep parts of the castle or something like that. But _no_, this wasn't the case. He was going to arrive home to two pissed off parents, that will be even madder when the bad news get to them. His fate was anything but good.

The gates to the castle opened with a dreadful creak of the metal, and the 5 moved on in. They entered the castle and brought the tattered prince to where his parents were, the Grand Office.

Once at the door, the guards stepped back for Ness to enter in on his own. As Ness laid his hand on the handle, the guard put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good luck, Your Royal Highness. And greatest apologies for yelling at you," he apologized.

"Thanks. And it's okay... I deserved it..." Ness forced a smile, then walked into the Grand Office, closing the door behind him. As expected, when he looked at his parents who were seated at the desk, they were very, very, very angry. His mother's face was almost the shade of red. Quickly and quietly, Ness sat at the singular chair in front of them. His expression shown bravery, but his eyes showed fear.

"So," his father started off. "Mind telling where you have been?" His parents know what happened (they got the news from a messenger guard), but they didn't know specifically.

"I-I..." stuttered Ness, but he gained back his composure. "I snuck out of the castle in this disguise I'm wearing right now," he stated bluntly, then continued. "I went over to the bakery and market place, and I bought lots of things. Then while I was walking down an alley, a boy my age assaulted me and stole my belongings. I chased after him, and finally got a hold of him. Then we fought. When we did, guards noticed us. The other boy got away with my things, and a guard caught me. Now this is where I am." Ness sat up straight in his seat, not only because it was a few of those princely habits he had, but because he regretted nothing.

The king pounded his fist on the desk, which echoed throughout the whole room. "How... COULD YOU?!" he said, not holding his anger back.

Ness furrowed his eyebrows and looked away.

"This whole time you were out and about, messing around in the town as your mother and I were worried _sick_ about you! DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU HAVE CAUSED?!"

Ness grimaced, but remained quiet.

"Just _imagine_ if the townspeople recognized you as the prince as you were sparring! Do you know what would've happened?! YOU'D RUIN EVERYTHING! The townspeople would NEVER recognize you as future king! And you should know better than to fight! HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING FROM US?! You _never_ listen! We try and try so hard to make you a fitting king, but all you've done is nothing! Why you've-"

"King," Ness began, his eyes slowly fixating on his father. "King, king, _KING_!" Ness arose from his chair harshly. "THAT'S ALL YOU EVER WANT! You never pay attention to what _I_ want!" he yelled. "You always care about your needs and not mine! Dad, I _try!_ I try so hard! I stress, I worry, I care. But I can't become a well-fitting prince as fast as you want me to! Why can't you _understand_?! WHY CAN'T YOU SEE MY PART OF THE STORY?!"

The king and queen were speechless. The king especially, the information was coming so fast and suddenly.

With the silence, Ness walked out of Grand Office. However, before he closed the door, he looked back at his father. "I hate you, dad, and hell will get to me first before I rule in _your_ place." Then he slammed the door shut.


	3. Preparations

**YEAH! CHAPTER 3 IS UP! WOOOOOO! Not much reviews, but this story is totally getting views and- YES! Do you like? DO YOU LIKE? DO YOU WANNA SEE THE NESSXCLAUS?! YES?! ALRIGHTY- You have to wait.**

***snickers in the background* **

**Other things I'd like to mention before you read this chapter is that I made Polestar another kingdom next to Eagleland. Not sure what the hell it's supposed to look like, but at the same time, that's not the point! I know Polestar is a preschool in EarthBound, but the name fit, so I used it!  
**

**Please enjoy! If any errors, use context clues to figure out what word, punctuation, or misspell has corrupted thou sentence. **

* * *

The next morning was a blur to everyone in the castle. Everyone has heard of what the prince has been up to, and rumors have spread on what exactly their argument was about. The rumors may have been far off from accurate, but they knew that if they saw the king, queen, or prince, they should space away from them, and give them time to heal.

Ness laid on his bed, staring blankly at the white ceiling. The day before, he returned the clothes back to Duster, who was worried about him. They didn't talk at all yesterday after the incident, and nothing much happened either. Ness didn't even eat dinner. All that probably happened was that he was sent to the Health Ward (it turned out that he had bruises, and some sprains). Other than that, he just sat in his bed all day, sleeping or staring at the ceiling. That might be what he was going to do today, too. Absolutely nothing gave purpose for him to get out of bed this morning.

_Knock knock!_

Ness didn't move.

"Ness..." a voice muffled through the door. It was his father's.

_What a great way to ruin this marvelous... marvelous morning!_ thought Ness, as he flipped the blanket over his head.

"Ness, I am sorry. Please open up."

No answer came from the prince.

"It is okay if you are mad at me... I am sorry, I didn't know."

Still no answer.

"I am sorry..." The father didn't want to force the conversation on his son, so he left. Ness heard his footsteps fade away, and flipped off the blanket covering his head.

The king trudged down the Grand Hallways and back to the Grand Study, where he came from. Like yesterday, the same people were gathered in there again. Their attention went to the father as he made his way back to his seat. A sigh escaped his mouth, which perfectly told everyone that his mission of talking it out with Ness was a failure.

"Oh, what _now_?" the queen said with worry. "Our son's betrothed will be here tomorrow!"

"Cancel it, just _cancel _it!" demanded the king. "Who cares about the meeting? Our son has a lot over his mind because of us! Because of _me_..."

"I know... but we can not just cancel it! The meeting of Ness' betrothed was carefully planned to be tomorrow! The people of the castle are _already_ starting to prepare the big ball for celebration!"

"Ugh... first I put a lot of pressure on Ness, now I put this new one on him... he probably won't even like who he's betrothed to."

An earl popped into the conversation. "Wait... No, sir! What if who he's betrothed to makes him _happy_?"

Everyone 'Ooooh'd.

The king gasped. "_You're right!_ If Ness won't allow me to make him happy, then maybe his betrothed _can_!" He took the earl and hugged as he pranced around. "There's hope after all!"

"Yes, but that does not mean that his betrothed will solve your problems for you _completely_," a duchess pointed out.

The king stopped prancing. "Oh... you're right... Confound it!" The king leaned back onto his seat. "Really... why can't my problems just disappear into thin air? I already have all of Eagleland to take care of..."

"Oh, darling!" the queen exclaimed. "No need to get under the weather! Like the earl said, there is such possibility that his betrothed will make him happy. All we can do right now is prepare the ball for tomorrow, and just make everything perfect for the two! Love is the answer for everything!" she said excitedly. Those words seemed to lift the king out of his pessimism.

"Ah, alright dear!" agreed the king. "Let us prepare!" The king was just about to spring into action, but the queen stopped him.

"Um... you have paperwork to do," she reminded him.

"Aw...! Fine." The king straightened his collar, and headed for his office. "Make the meeting perfect!"

* * *

_1:36 p.m.__I've been in bed staring at the ceiling for 4 hours. I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!_

Ness completely flipped off his blanket and stood up, not bothering to make his bed, for that was the job of his servants. He went over to his wardrobe and picked out one navy blue royal suit out of many, and changed from his pj's into that. Being careful with his wounds that the doctor took care of, he slipped off his black, silky pajamas, and put on the suit. It was a traditional suit that every prince wore, and he was required to wear it at all times, except on special occasions, where Ness would have to wear something fancier, or more suited for the occasion. It bothered Ness that he had to do so, for the suit wasn't far from uncomfortable, but he got used to it. After all, the suit wasn't even a part of his bigger problems.

"Uwaa~!" Ness stretched out his arms as he yawned. Then he went over to a mirror on the wall that showed his whole body. He carefully inspected himself, making sure there was no flaw in his complexion. None. All that was left was his hair. His messy hair that would go everywhere if not combed into the right place.

He took out his golden comb off of his drawer, and began sorting his hair neatly. He brushed some to the right, and to the left. When all was good and dandy, Ness put the comb back and slipped on his polished dress shoes. Then off he went.

The prince was just about to exit his room when a knock came to the door again.

_Please don't be my father..._ Ness hoped. And luckily, it wasn't.

"Your Highne- I mean, _Ness!_" Duster called.

"Yeah?" Ness opened the door, accidentally hitting his older friend in the face.

"OW-" Duster shook the pain off and continued on. "Ness! I figured you would be awake by now. What happened yesterday? You were covered in bruises! And when I tried talking to you yesterday, you just ignored me and went to your bedroom!"

"Ugh, must I explain _everything_?"

"Yes, and do not spare the details!"

"Fine..." Ness took about 2 minutes to explain everything to his friend. Duster smiled at times, then straight up put up a 'I can't believe it' look. It was painful for Ness to reflect on everything that has happened, but he has decided that you can't change the past, so you might as well accept that was has been done, has been done.

"No, _way_!" Duster exclaimed. "I do not mean to be immature in this situation, but... did you win the fight, or...?"

That made Ness chuckle. "To be honest, I have no idea. But I'm telling you this, if I ever find that boy again, I'll get my revenge."

"Revenge is not the answer to everything, you know that." Duster tilted his head. "Oh, by the way, Your Royal Highness, do you by any chance know what that boy looks like? I can easily alert the the duke that runs the military to find the boy for execution."

Ness' eyes widened. "...Execution?"

Duster nodded.

It was true, Ness' encounter with the orange haired boy definitely angered him very much, but execution was just going _too_ far! Besides, the things he has bought, and the money he has held wasn't even a little portion of what his family had altogether.

"Eh, just forget about that kid. Just a little troublemaker that we shouldn't waste much time with," Ness said nonchalantly.

"Well, if that is how you want it." The servant straightened his own collar. "Oh! And I almost forgot." Duster reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a letter. "For you. You were meant to get it earlier this morning, but I had a feeling you were still sleeping or doing something else."

Ness curiously took the letter and opened it.

_To the rulers of Eagleland,_

_ As it has been carefully scheduled, our daughter, princess of the land of Polestar, and we, the guardians of Her Highness, are to arrive promptly tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. We thank you for hosting the celebration in honor of the first meeting of the Prince of Eagleland, and the Princess of Polestar. _

_Sincerely, _

_The rulers of Polestar._

"..." Ness stared blankly at the page, then looked at at Duster. "What the heck is _this_?"

The young prince may not have known this, but Polestar was another large kingdom, in which the king and queen of that land rule. It was not far from Eagleland.

"A telegram that the king, queen, and you have gotten. It is simply a small reminder of what is coming," Duster explained. "Do you not remember? Your betrothed is coming _tomorrow_."

_Betrothed... betrothed..._ Ness was trying to remember. _Wait a minute..._

"_Son, you're a prince. It's about time that you start acting like one! And even more importantly, it's time you were seen as one. The meeting of your betrothed will be coming in two days!"_

He remembered yesterday morning when he and his dad was having another one of their father-son lectures. He was to marry the youngest sister of the royal family, for she wasn't taking the throne. Her eldest sister was.

"OH MY GOD." Ness dropped the letter. "I forgot! This totally slipped my mind after everything that happened yesterday!"

"Yes, _yes!_" Duster agreed. "Now you must get ready! You were supposed to be up and ready 4 hours ago! But I was kind enough to let you stay in bed until now." The servant quickly reached into his other pocket for a notepad. Faster than ever, he flipped through the pages and stopped on one. "Alright, young prince, you must report to the Grand Ballroom for dance practice."

"Dancing...?" asked Ness. "Isn't that something I'm supposed to learn... Oh, I dunno, _later_? When I'm older?"

"Oh, silence, young one. No one is ever too young to dance! I remember when I was a young adolescent, I would go to town square and dance my heart out around the beautiful fount-"

"OKAY I GET IT, let's just go!" Ness insisted.

"Oh, right!" Duster snapped out of his fantasy. Then he led Ness out of his bedroom, and down the Grand Hallways. Ness walked, but Duster danced while humming a tune. Looks like he wasn't fully snapped out of his fantasy.

_He looks so gay... _Ness thought to himself.

This continued on until they reached the entrance to the Ballroom. This was where Duster stopped his dancing, and opened it for the prince. He bowed down politely as Ness entered.

When fully inside, Duster closed the door shut behind him. The noise freaked out the prince for a short moment, but he settled. He looked around the _huge_, spacey ballroom surrounding him. Dazzling lights hung from the ceiling. Undecorated tables with empty flower pots on them laid fashionably near the walls. The floor was so sparkly clean and clear, that you could see your own reflection just by looking at it. And despite the unfinished touches of the ballroom, it still looked magnificent. However, there was something missing... oh, _people_.

_Wait, there's no one here? _thought Ness, confused. He looked around. _Isn't there supposed to be someone here?_

"'ELLO, YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS!" called a loud, booming voice, right behind Ness.

"HOLY SHI-" Ness jerked his body around. He saw a tall man and woman behind him. Apparently the voice came from the woman. "Don't scare me like that..." The prince took in a deep breath.

"Our most sincere apologizes, young prince," said the man.

"OH YES WE ARE VERY SORRY YOUNG PR-" the lady was interrupted by the man putting a hand over her mouth.

"Uh, yes. She talks like that," the man explained. "Anyway, my name is Victor, and she is-"

"MAH NAME IS LISA." The woman bowed. She had a heavy accent to her voice.

"...Hi." Ness waved. _How awkward..._

"Now that our introduction is done, ready to learn how to..." The man strikes an intense pose. "_Dance?_"

"S-Sure?" Honestly, Ness was kind of scared.

"Alright! Now, before we get started, we'll have you know that we are professionals. So do as we tell you, and we guarantee you will learn how to dance by tomorrow! You'll truly _impress_ your betrothed!" Victor smiled.

Ness rolled his eyes. "Okay! Let's just get this over with." He spaces away from them and stands straight. "Now what?"

The two adults laugh.

"What?!" Ness asks.

"You have to dance with a _partner_," said Victor. He points to Lisa. "She will be your partner."

"Can't I just dance with a pillar or something?"

The two laugh again.

"FUNNY PRINCE, HE IS!" said Lisa, then went over to Ness. She stood in front of him, and bowed. Compared to Ness, she was shorter, and much wider. "DO NOT WORRY, YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS! I'LL PROVE TO BE A GOOD PARTNER, ALRIGHT?"

"Okay okay!" said Ness, feeling that his ears are about to bleed any minute. "Let's just start already!"

"Alright, sir." Victor cleared his throat. "We will start off with a basic dance. Known as the waltz. It is fairly easy, and most popular nowadays. First, you must get in position. Ness, you are leading. That means whatever you do, your partner does the opposite to correlate with you. So, place your right hand on your partner's waist slightly around the back, and extend your left hand to your side with your elbow bent and your palm raised, facing her."

"'Kay..." Ness did as told and got in position with Lisa. "Got it."

"..."

"Something wrong?" Ness raised an eyebrow.

"Your Royal Highness, I said to put your right hand around your partner's _waist_."

"It is around her waist."

"It is _not_. Lower."

Ness lowered his hand. "Like this?"

"No. More lower."

Ness continued down more. "Good yet?"

"Lower."

"Now?"

"_Lower..._"

"..."

"Prince, do you not know the location of a woman's waist?"

"I DO! THIS WOMAN JUST DOESN'T HAVE ANY CURVES! I CAN'T FIND IT!" Ness shouted in frustration.

Lisa gasped, then let go of Ness. "OH, HOW DARE YOU!" She smacked Ness across the face.

"HEY! I can get you executed for that-"

The woman interrupted Ness' threat with a death glare.

"Oh you know...I was just jokin'~ eheheh..." Ness smiled nervously.

"YOU WERE NOT!" The woman took off her right glove and held it dangerously in her hand. Then she repeatedly slapped it across Ness' face, until Ness found the nerve to run away. "HEY! COME BACK!"

The two started running like mad around the whole ballroom.

"Stop it you two! We are supposed to be learning how to dance!" said Victor, holding out his hands.

"I would! But this crazy woman is chasing after me!" The prince ran by the tables and accidentally knocked over an empty vase. "Oh..."

"AHH! THAT WAS A CHINESE PORCELAIN VASE! SOLD AT 1.2 MILLION APIECE!" Victor shouted.

"I'm sorry? ..!" Ness had no idea how to reply to that. He slipped in between tables of different sizes. Lisa followed through and ended up pushing some over, due to her large, stubby size.

"OH MY- STOP! STOP AT ONCE!" shouted Victor. "DO NOT MAKE ME COME INTO THIS!"

They still continued chasing each other.

"Oh... you two asked for it.." Victor approached the both of them.

**1 and a half hour later...**

"1, 2, 3, and 1, 2, 3, and 1, 2, 3..." Victor counted in beats.

Lisa and Ness were set in position, dancing together without saying a word. Ness had his left hand in place, and his right hand on her waist, slightly on her back. However, on Lisa's dress, there was a red 'X' telling Ness the location of her waist. Along with that, his left hand's wrist was tied loosely to Lisa's wrist, assuring that he will not run away, but will still allow him to move his hand around freely.

_This is torture..._ thought Ness, still dancing in sync. He could feel Lisa's anger from where he was dancing.

"Now... twirl~!" said Victor.

Ness continued with the beat, then twirled Lisa professionally. Afterwards, he continued on with the waltz. His head was held up high, and so was Lisa's, making their complexion more grand.

While they were at that, Victor has called up maids to take care of the mess they have made earlier.

"Ah... Beautiful, _beautiful!_" Victor praised. "You may stop."

The two stop dancing. Ness took a deep breath in and then let it out in relief.

_Thank god that's over..._

"Are we done dancing? Yes? Okay, I'll be going now!" The prince rushed. He started untying the rope around his wrist.

"Wait, wait, _wait!_" Victor stopped Ness' hand from untying any further. "Of _course_ we are not done yet! You have many dances to learn by tomorrow! _Many_! This is why you were supposed to be called over the ballroom earlier this morning, but Duster was being polite to let to stay in bed longer," he explained. "Now, on with the next dance! There is no time to lose! We have to make up for the extra hours you spent to stay in bed!"

Ness didn't hesitate to let out a groan.

_Why me?_

* * *

***clears throat* As a fellow Asian of the Asian community, I don't know much about dancing. I looked it up 'How to Waltz' on eHow, okay?! eHow, wiki answers, and wikipedia are where I get all my answers, dude. AND I HAVE STRAIGHT A's- well actually, _about_ that, I have a B in Geometry (which really ruins the stereotype that all Asians are good at math), but whatever! You can't find freaking answers to math problems online. WHHHHYYYYY?!**

**I'm sorry I'm a lazy person that doesn't like doing work. Don't follow in my footsteps. Be a good girl or boy that does the work themselves, and utilizes the internet only to learn, not to copy answers.**

**...**

** *bursts into laughter***

**Stay awesome! **


	4. The Meeting of Royals

**Wow, sorry for not updating in awhile! I've been dead. Actually, I think all my fav authors are dead... But I think they'll come back! **

**Anyways, finished this chapter! This is yet, another filler, and I hope you aren't getting _too_ annoyed by how slow it's going. A story always needs its background info. I promise you, it'll get more interesting in the future. **

**Please enjoy. **

* * *

Ness slept upon his bed, dreaming wonderful dreams. He laid in complete rest, rest that he couldn't get the day before. He learned many dances, which took a long time to learn, due to the fact that Ness was a 'I learn at my own pace' learner. Also, he got into minor fights with Lisa, with his accidental slip of the tongue. He couldn't help it, though. Anyways, it was all brought to an end at around midnight, which really tired him out because he had a strict bedtime that was at 9 p.m., to 8 a.m. The extra hours of sleep was mandatory for him. It was said to help him keep his healthy complexion (no bags under the eyes), and to give him all the energy he needed.

However, today, that wasn't the case.

_Knock knock! Knock knock!_

Ness shuffled in bed.

_KNOCK KNOCK! KNOCK KNOCK! BANG!_

"Nnn..."

"Ness! Wakey wakey!" Duster called. Having the key to every room in the castle, he opened the door, and entered. He sat on the side of Ness' bed, and shook the prince awake from his slumber. "Time to wake up! There is a big day ahead of you!"

"Just give me five more minutes... or years..." Ness mumbled.

Duster sighed, then went over the the huge window. There, he separated the curtains with speed, letting the bright sunlight hit Ness' bed.

The bright sunlight started to get to Ness, and got him to open his eyes. "Ah...! Shut the curtains!" He flipped the blanket over his head.

"_Ness!_" Duster whined. He went back over to the bed and ripped the whole bed sheet off. "It's 9:00 a.m! You simply _must_ get ready! Your betrothed is to meet here promptly at 10!"

"Tell her I got cancer and died..." said Ness. He had nothing against his betrothed, nothing at all. He just didn't want to get up.

"GUAH! The king will surely punish me if I do not manage to get you set and ready for today...!" Duster panicked to himself. Then he resolved to physical violence. Carefully, he tucked his hands under Ness.

"Woah~ what're you doin' there, Du-"

Duster flipped Ness off of the bed. The prince fell off the bed and hit the carpeted floor lightly.

"OW!" Ness got up on both knees. "What was that for?"

"For being a little hard headed prince." Duster chuckled. Ness growled.

"FINE! I'm up! I'm up!" Ness admitted defeat. "I'll get ready! Just get out so I can change into my suit!"

"Oh no no no! Today is a _special_ day, and you know what that calls for! Special treatment!"

"Special treat-"

The brown haired servant took a hold of the prince's hand, and ran out of the room. "No questions! We must begin to prepare you!"

Then Duster quickly led Ness through the building. They rushed through passing maids, guards, and other residents of the castle. The elegant colors of the Grand Hallways flew across Ness' eyes, dazing him temporarily. Before he knew it, Duster has brought him to the west wing of the castle, and stopped right in front of a mahogany door that was golden near the edges. He opened the door and gestured Ness to go inside.

Ness did, and slowly walked into the room. Of course, Duster didn't go in, for he had other jobs to get to. So it was all on the prince.

The confused boy looked around inside. The room contained many stations. One for grooming, hair designing, washing, etc. To be put more simply, it looked like a salon.

"Hello, Your Royal Highness." A lady approached him. She was a beautiful brunette, tall, and graceful. Along with her, was another woman. A bit shorter and blonde, she was. They both bowed.

"Hello." Ness nodded his head respectfully for the two.

Once they were done bowing, the blonde spoke. "Word from the king and queen, you are to meet your betrothed?"

"Yes, at 10, specifically," replied Ness, in his formal voice.

"Ah, just enough time." The brunette smiled. "Now, young prince, if we may, we shall get you ready."

"I grant you permission," Ness accepted. Oh how he _hated_ speaking formally around the castle. The dialogue, in his opinion, is too bland and lack personality.

So afterwards, the two ladies did all that was possible to make the prince look his very _best_. First, they made sure he showered and brushed his teeth. The next thing they did afterwards was sit him down on a comfortable chair, and face him towards a mirror. From there, they blow dried his hair, combed out the tangles, and fixed it with a style. Afterwards, they gave the prince an outfit, one that was different from the one he usually wears. Rather than navy blue, it was pure white, golden on the edges of his collar, and the edges of the cuff. One that could easily differentiate him from another noble. He put it on, then checked himself out on the mirror. As expected, the ladies helped out and straightened out the wrinkles and curves on the expensive cloth. When finished, both of the women looked at the finished product.

The blonde examined the prince with her hand on her chin. "Hmmm..." She put her hands together. "I love it! Oh, how I would fall in love with you in first sight if I was but a little girl!" She smiled.

"I agree," said the brunette. "The outfit Her Highness, the queen, picked out certainly goes well with your skin tone!" She grins at the sight of the prince.

A pink tint started growing on Ness' cheeks. "Heheh... Thank you."

"The meeting will go great!" the blonde encouraged. "I simply cannot wait until your parents, or rather, your _betrothed_, sees this!"

"OH- And speaking of that, what time is it?" asked the brunette. She looked over to the expensive wall clock. She gasped. "A quarter till 9, it is! Quickly, apply the fragrance so we may escort him!"

"Ah, yes!" The blonde rushed over a grabbed a bottle. She sprayed one time of Ness' collar, and left it at that. The strong scent bothered Ness a little, but it soon faded away.

From that point on, the ladies took the young prince out of the room, and escorted him across the mansion. Turning and turning the curves in the castle, they brought him nearer to the castle's main entrance. Getting proximal to the destination, Ness could hear faint talking and chatters.

"_Where is the young prince?" said an unfamiliar voice. _

"_He should be here soon...! I am terribly sorry for the wait..." said the king of Eagleland's voice._

Going down the stairs (the front doors of the castle were at the bottom), Ness rushed. The two ladies went away when the prince was where he was supposed to be.

"I am here," said Ness, professionally. He walked without a flaw to the group of nobles that has gathered. Immediately, everyone's attention went to him. However, that didn't bother Ness in a bit, he was used to unwanted attention. Just a princely thing.

"Yes, here he is!" announced the king. The queen, who was in the group too, came to Ness' side, along with his father.

"Oh...?" a lady, clad in a different colored dress, as well as a different textured dress compared to Ness' mother, said. "This is him...?" She questioned, in a surprised tone, rather than a disappointed one. Next to her was a man, who was as well dressed differently compared the Ness' father. And in the middle of the two, was a young woman, that looked like Ness' age.

"Yes, this is our son, Prince Ness. Future ruler of Eagleland." The king smiled, completely happy about the unknown visitors' presence. Ness was still confused about who the three were, until his father answered that for him.

"Son," he began, "meet the King of Polestar, the Queen of Polestar, and..." He smiled at Ness, then guided the boy's attention to the girl in the middle. "The Princess of Polestar, Paula."

The girl looked away shyly from Ness, nearly hiding herself completely behind her mother's dress. She had on the most pinkest dress ever, one that was made of priceless material that would not tear, yet, at the same time, remain fashionable. Her eyes were an endless sea of blue, and her hair was a cascade of blonde. Although a bit short, the hair proved its point, and that is to be beautiful. What made it stand out even more was the shiny red bow placed cleanly on the side of her head.

Ness' eyes widened. _So that's who they were?! _Ness tried his best not to look surprised. And it worked. He kept his princely composure, smiled, and bowed respectively at the three, mainly at Paula.

"Oh~" The queen focused her attention on Ness. "A prince of manners. One could not ask for anything better." She and her husband smiled at the king and queen. They both smiled back, glad that their son kept his princely act during this sort of meeting, instead of the unsteady one he had two nights before.

"Now, shall we head to the gardens for this morning's brunch?" The queen offered.

The king of Polestar happily nodded. "Why, yes! The weather outside is not too far from perfect!"

The adults happily made each other acquaintances, and picked up their feet and began their ways around the building. Ness followed closely near his parents, while the princess, Paula, did the same thing. While they were doing that, the adults made conversation, which consisted of their daily lives of how they run their kingdom, and about the castle they were walking through. This continued until they got to the back entrance of the castle. The guards who were positioned there, opened the door for the royals, and closed it afterwards.

As soon as everyone was outside, they were greeted with indeed, perfect weather. The sun was shining, but not to the point where it would annoy someone's eyesight. The sky was blue also, and the temperature outside was not too hot or too cold, _just_ right. And due to everything's idealism, it couldn't have made the garden look anymore better. The garden and grass looked lush and bright in the sun's rays, like an earthly paradise, considering its diversity in colorful flowers and trees.

The Polestar rulers' faces were priceless. They gasped as soon as they got out of the castle.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" said the queen. "I tend to this garden myself. It lies deep in my heart. I do not know what I would do without it." She stares soulfully at the garden and smiles warmly to herself.

"I have a garden at my castle as well... but it could never surpass this garden's beauty!" said Polestar's queen. "Jealous, am I!" she admits, with an optimistic tone.

"Oh, I wouldn't say this garden is the _best_..." the queen remained modest, then continued on. "Over here, we have a table set up for this special occasion." She led everyone to a white table made of glass, which was supported by white metal legs that had a vine design to it. Atop of it were tea, scones, fresh summer berries, nut bread, and cups of lifenoodles. Standing next to it was a silent butler.

Everyone took their seat. There were 3 seats on each side. Ness sat in between his parents, and on the other side, the princess sat in between her parents as well.

"Oh, my favorite!" said the queen of Polestar. She immediately dug into the cups of lifenoodles. That made a signal for everyone else to help themselves to their food. Afterwards, eating commenced, as the adults talked about themselves yet again.

Ness remained silent and drank his tea in quiet sips. _I thought this was supposed to be a meeting of me and my betrothed... not some kind of convention that adults would go to to make friends... All well._ Ness didn't really care, well, it wasn't that. He had to admit, he was pretty nervous to go talking to the princess himself. This just counted as a save.

When he thought he'd never get a chance to actually _meet_ the princess, his dad leaned over to his ear and whispered, "Why don't you go speak to her?"

Those words surprised Ness. And despite the current situation he was in with his father, he replied anyways, because what happened 2 days ago wasn't the point right now. "In these kind of conditions, I don't think so. Why don't you just get back to your conversation?" He couldn't help but pass a little rude tone in that.

The king ignored it and persisted. "Go show her around the garden. This is my order."

Ness rolled his eyes and did as told. He got up from his seat, which caught eyes from everyone. With as much grace he could muster, he walked over to the princess' seat, and bowed.

"May I show you the garden, Princess Paula?" he asked, smiling at her. The girl blushed.

The parents of the two looked at each other, then at the two young ones and smiled the kind of smile that said, 'How cute!'

It took awhile for the princess to reply, but she did. "Y-Yes, you may." Her voice was gentle. Like a leaf hitting the surface of calm waters.

With that, she got up from her seat. After she did, Ness offered her a hand. "May I?"

She nodded, putting her hand in his.

Then they both walked together, deeper into the garden.

* * *

**Okay, I'd like to mention that there _will_ be NessXClaus in the future! I'm not purposely prolonging it, okay? I'm not guilty! **

**Stay awesome. **


	5. The Ball, Part 1

**WOO! Fast update! Within the same hour...? I dunno. I felt that I couldn't just leave you guys with only the last chapter, especially when I haven't updated in months... **

**Anyways, this chapter finally gets into a little action! **

* * *

The prince and princess made their way from the table, and into the forest. Their steps landed softly across the soft soil of the path they walked on. When far enough from their parents, to the point where they can faintly see them, Ness found this the perfect time to talk.

"..." Ness continued walking, but looked at her while doing so. Being looked at, Paula looked back at the boy. Their gaze met, and stayed.

_Find something to talk about... _Ness thought. "Nice garden, isn't it?" He smiled genuinely at her. Even though their meeting was forced, and they're destined to be 'together', Ness wanted to make the best out of this moment. He wanted to make friends with her, this is probably the first chance he's ever gotten to make a friend, at least, with someone _his_ age. This moment was special to him.

Being encouraged by his smile, Paula smiled back. "Yes, it is. I like all the flowers, they are very pretty...!" She tried harder to speak with more courage.

"You like them?" Ness thought about that. "Hey... by any chance do you want to pick any?"

Paula looked at him with surprise. "Your mother will not get mad?"

"Not really, she won't even notice a few are gone. I mean, have you _seen_ this garden? It's _huge_!" exclaimed Ness. Paula giggled.

"Well, if you say so!" Paula then let go of Ness' hand, and set off. Momentarily, she skipped, but then stopped and resumed regular walking. She looked over at Ness, who followed. "Oops, I'm sorry..."

"For what...?" Ness said in confusement.

"Skipping..."

"Uh, is that supposed to be a bad thing, or...?"

"Nn, my parents always tell me to stop that, and that young, mature women don't skip. It really saddens me sometimes..." she said.

"I know that feeling," Ness emphasized. "Parents, especially if they're king and queen of the land, don't let you do much..."

Paula began picking flowers, and gathered them in her hands. "Ugh, I know! All I've ever wanted was to make friends! But _no_, my parents say that royalty can't be friends with commoners." She pouted.

Ness' eyes widened. "Hey... me too!"

"You want to see what it's like on the outside too?" Paula looked at him in amazement. "I always thought I'd be the only one in the royal family to ever think that way!"

"I also thought that way too!" Ness smiled brightly. Finding someone else that felt the same way as him brought comfort to him. He even felt somewhat thankful. In the process of thinking that, he bent down and picked out a pretty white flower. Carefully, he tucked it in between Paula's ear.

"But I guess I'm the not the only one anymore," he told her. The girl blushed heavily, but giggled.

"I guess not!" She laughed. Ness joined in. Nothing was funny. But the pure fact that they could relate on a somewhat deep level brought happiness to them. From that point, they ventured even deeper into the garden and spent their time talking together, getting to know each other better. At first, Ness thought he'd _have_ to like Paula because they were going to get married anyway, but now... their relationship together was truthful. Maybe Ness would get to like her after all, and become friends. Before they knew it, 45 minutes flew by like seconds as they went through the garden.

"_Princess Paula!" a distant voice called._

"_Prince Ness!" another voice called._

The two looked stopped in their tracks and looked at each other.

"Who's that?" asked Ness.

"I think our parents are calling us." Paula listened carefully. "A voice sounds similar to my mother's."

"Oh," Ness said, hiding his disappointment. "We should get back then."

With that, Ness led Paula back through where they have came. He knew this garden like the back of his hand, no way he could ever get lost in there. This garden counted as one of the places he'd go to for alone time, just to think about things. So without trouble, the two made it back to their parents, who were standing next to the table. The silent butler was gathering the dishes onto a tray, and bringing them back into the castle.

Immediately, as if having to, Paula and Ness went their separate ways, and stood near their parents. The adults looked at their child, and smiled.

"So... Ehem... How'd it go?" Ness' mother whispered to him.

Ness couldn't help but smile back. "She's really nice, and fun to be around with!"

The mother nodded satisfyingly at that, and looked at her husband, who was biting his nails. She secretly gave him the thumbs up, which caused the king to give a sigh of relief. The king smiled in achievement, feeling as if he made Ness feel better indirectly.

The queen of Polestar cleared her throat. "Ehem, well, it'd be in all truth when I say that this brunch was magnificent! The food and scenery were simply marvelous! And what good character you rulers of this kingdom have! Especially... your son's," she compliments. She talked with her daughter as well, about her time with the prince. The woman looked over to Ness, who politely smiled back.

"Oh no no _no_! It was a pleasure to have _you_ guests over!" The king remained modest. He was just about to continue on, when the butler arrived to his side. The butler showed him his pocket watch.

"Sir, the time has come. There is work to be done," he reminded him.

"Ah, yes! Almost forgot about that. Thank you," the king replied. That was when he made an announcement. "My dear guests, I greatly appreciate the time you have spent to come over for this little visit. However, now, we must return to our work."

The Polestar king nodded. "We understand. We also have things of our own."

"Agreed. Come, now. We have an escort here for you." The king gestured to a man. The man bowed, and signaled them to follow him. The three set forth, and followed, waving goodbye to the remaining people.

However, before they left, the queen turned around and gave the Eagleland rulers a warm smile. "I cannot wait for the ball tonight!" Then she turned, and left.

Afterwards, Ness and his parents nodded at each other, as if they've finished a hard, yet, rewarding task. Then they, too, went their separate ways. The queen had to finish her work on the ball, directing everyone and making sure everyone had something to do. As for the king, he had his day filled with constant paperwork, and keeping the village on track, making sure his kingdom had everything it needed. And lastly, Ness. Even a prince of Eagleland has things to do of their own. Such as being home-schooled (they were canceled the past few days), practicing the arts (Ness is advanced in playing the piano, and certain sports), and having to learn the history of Eagleland and its traditions that are not to be forgotten.

* * *

The clock striked 7:00 p.m. The sun faded away, as the moon and stars were beginning to take its rightful place in the dark sky.

"Make him dazzle! Shinier, shinier, _shinier!_" The brunette from this morning, insisted. "This morning was just the warmup, now it's the BIG TIME!"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" shouted the blonde.

"Ow, ow, OW! You pinched my arm! I'm sensitive there...!" complained Ness, in a nice way.

Right now, the two ladies were refreshing Ness' neatness that he had this morning, as well as adding slight improvements to his look that they came up with.

"Sorry! I am just getting a little, fidgety about your looks. We all know who the blame will go to if you show up looking like you haven't got a servant in the world!" the brunette told him. Ness just nodded on and dealt with it. About 15 minutes later of careful checking, making sure there was no flaw on the prince, they gave each other the thumbs up, and faced Ness towards a mirror.

"What do you think?" asked the blonde.

Ness examined himself, posing often. "I like it! Thank you, ladies. You sure know how to beautify people," he compliments.

They giggled.

"Oh, no problem! We are happy to assist you on your special day!" said the brunette. "Now, run along, Your Royal Highness!"

"No, wait!" The blonde quickly dug into her pocket and took out a golden chain bracelet. It had a simple decoration. A thin, yet, strong golden chain and a plate that connected to it. On it was engraved, "I believe in you, Ness."

"...What's that?" the boy asked.

"For you. Your father wanted me to deliver this to you."

Ness scoffed. "Keep it. I don't need it." He was just about to turn and leave, until the blonde stepped in front of him.

"Your Royal Highness, please. Just take it." She looked at him with sorrowful eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Ness replied, "...Fine. I'm not going to wear it though." He rudely snatches it out of her hands and sighs. "What does my dad think? A small little trinket will just get me to forget everything that's happened? No, it won't," he says to himself, then leaves.

He strolled down the halls without haste, toward the location of the ballroom. In the meanwhile, he held the bracelet. It felt like trash in his hands. Something that he would never, _ever_ wear. Its mere presence pained him. So before he actually went to the ballroom, he took a little trip to a nearby trash can. There, he dangled the golden chain above it.

_My dad really doesn't understand anything, does he?_ Ness asked himself. Then he decided to drop it into the wastebasket. However, he didn't. His hand shook in the process, but it wouldn't release the bracelet.

_C'mon... c'mon..._ Ness tried opening his palm, but it still didn't. _Why can't I let it go?_

He put in a few more seconds to try and throw it away. But no matter what he did, his body and mind rejected his wish to let it go.

_Damn it! Forget it!_ Ness cursed, gripping the bracelet tightly in his hands. He shoved it deep into his right pocket and made his way to the ballroom. Passing through the rather barren hallways (excluding the guards that never moved), he finally made it. Taking a gulp before he entered the ballroom, he slowly opened the door and went inside.

As expected, no one was there, except for his parents, who were sitting at their throne. He walked up to them, and took his throne that was to the right of his dad, also. In front of the throne was a red carpet for people to walk on. However, despite the space it takes within the ballroom, it barely put a dent in the space remaining.

"Hello, son," the king greeted, smiling at Ness. Ness turned his head and looked at his dad with a blank expression, and then turned back without saying anything. A little hurt by that, the father turned to his wife and whispered to her. "He doesn't seem as happy as he was this morning..."

The mother looked over at Ness, who had his elbow on the armrest and leaned his cheek against his hand. Then her gaze went back to her husband. "I really think it is just you. I'm telling you... just talk it out with him!"

The father immediately brushed off the idea. "No, no... Maybe a little more time is what he needs, with his betrothed!" He smiled to his wife, who shook her head in disappointment.

"I'm telling you..."

"Everything will be alright, I promise. Everything will patch itself up, right?"

The wife looked at her husband's hopeful face, and nodded out of sympathy. "No- well... _maybe_."

That was enough to give the king the courage to continue on. "Then Ness will be the finest prince there ever was!"

The queen sighed. "You still do not get the point..."

He tilted his head. "What do you mean, dear? That _is_ the point! To make Ness the greatest prince ever!"

She shook her head another time. "No, no, _no_! What matters is Ness' happ-"

"Your Highnesses." An armored guard stood on the red carpet in front of them. All three of their attention went to him. "The clock reads 7:30 p.m. We shall be letting the guests in now."

The wife composed herself. "Yes. Thank you for the reminder. Dismissed."

He bowed, and went off to open the gate. From there on, once the gate opened, people started coming inside. Nobles _and_ commoners. Usually, commoners don't come to many balls, but this is one. This ball honors Ness and his betrothed. Commoner or not commoner, everyone should know who their future queen will be. However, there are some rules though. Commoners will only enter through the doors on the side of the ballroom. Nobles will have the treatment of walking down a set of huge and wide stairs that are in the middle of the side doors. In addition, commoners also have to _look_ the part. They can't just show up in rags. Suits/tuxedos and dresses only. And the age range is 12 and above, in exception to certain conditions. A four year old can come, but they have to be well behaved. A ball was not a party, it was a classy celebration.

There was also another nick in coming to a ballroom celebration. The first to come inside are the commoners. Next, are the nobles. It came this way so that the commoners could stand to the side as the nobles are announced, and are coming down the stairs.

_Here comes the boring part..._ Ness thought. And it was. From this point, he has to remain in his seat until _everyone_ has entered the ballroom. What made it even worse for him is that he can't lean or slouch in public. Strong and composed is what he had to look like.

More and more people filled in the ballroom. Loads of commoners dressed neatly in the required attire, stood tall and strong. Dresses of many colors and suits of powerful, dominating colors took up the room. They chatted as more and more of them came inside. Some were either sitting down at the tables, or standing. No one was allowed to get food/drinks or dance yet until everyone was here, and the announcements were made.

Long and plentiful minutes have been killed, and ended the arriving of commoners. Next came the nobles.

A man with a clipboard stood at the top of the stairs. He took the trumpet he was currently holding, and blew into it. This caught the attention of everyone.

"Everyone!" he boomed. "Now honoring the nobles of this kingdom!"

All in the room clapped as the first noble came into sight. He was tall with broad shoulders, and a fit body. Next to him was his wife, whose hand he was holding.

"Mr. Clementine, the duke and head of the military! His wife, Mrs. Clementine!" the announcer shouted. Everyone clapped and cheered for the two, as they elegantly walked down the wide stairs. Then they walked down the red carpet as well, bowing to the king and queen. Afterwards, they were free to take a spot in the ballroom for more upcoming nobles. The same thing continued, and with each and every one, the announcer checkmarked their name to assure their attendance.

Throughout the whole thing, the king and queen kept their fortitude and patience. They were used to it. After all, they have been through this type of routine a bunch of times. As for Ness...

_Please just end already...!_ he begged internally. However, his facial expression remained calm and content, to assure no one could read what he was actually thinking about this whole thing.

After a torturing half an hour later, everything was almost done when the final guests arrived. However, they weren't just guests... it was the Polestar rulers.

"Everyone! The special guests! The king and queen of the Polestar kingdom!" the man shouted, not needing to catch everyone's attention, for it was already on them. Each and every one. "And the young, beautiful, Princess Paula!"

All of a sudden, Ness' blank gaze turned alive again. He looked over to the top of the stairs, to see his friend, Paula, walking down.

The three made their way to bottom of the stairs, then down the red carpet like all the other nobles did. Except their arrival was more acknowledged by everyone. Quiet whispers and chatters about them went about the spectating crowd.

As soon as they were in the front of the rulers of Eagleland, the ones at the throne rose. Face-to-face, they bowed to each other, showing their equality of their ranks in nobility. In doing so, Paula threw a friendly smile at Ness, who returned one back. When that was over, Ness and Paula stood in front of the entire audience of the ballroom, joined hands, and held it up.

The announcer that stood at the top of the stairs came down and towards the group of the highest nobles that were near the throne area. He rose his head high, and in the loudest and strongest voice he could muster, he yelled, "The wonderful nobles and hardworking subjects of this land, this _kingdom_. Here, I welcome you, Prince Ness and Princess Paula! The future rulers of Eagleland!" Those words echoed throughout the whole room.

At first, no one made a sound. That is, until one clap was heard, and more and more built up into a thundering group of claps. Cheers and whistles surfaced also. Because of that, a smile Ness tried to hold back came across his face, along with Paula. Seeing the happy look on his son's face, Ness' father couldn't help but smile too.

"Congratulations, prince!" someone shouted.

"A wonderful queen, she'd make!" another went.

"We believe in you, Prince Ness!"

Ness' smile only deepened. Especially at that last shout out. He had hoped to himself that his subjects would believe in him, and maybe, just _maybe_ they did. Ness felt as if an unknown weight has been lifted from his shoulders as the celebration continued on.

"And in honor of this celebration," the announcer read off of his clipboard, "the first dance goes to the new couple!"

All clapped and cheered once again, as Ness led Paula to the center of the ballroom, where everyone spaced out to make a huge space in between. Nervous than ever, the two joined hands. All eyes were on them now, as the orchestra that took up one corner of the room, played a gentle song.

"U-Uh, N-Ness?" Paula whispers to him, completely terrified. "W-What dance are we d-doing again?"

Ness stood there, staring blankly back. "...Uh." He was just as nervous as she was, but was more capable of hiding it.

"Oh my god..." Paula came to the conclusion that Ness didn't know, or either forgot.

"Wal- WALTZ!" he whispered loudly. That was one that he could remember. "Let's just do that one! I'm leading, just follow what I do."

With that, the two rearranged their hand connections. Slowly, they started off. Counting in beats, Ness led her around gracefully. Jittering a little, Ness messed up at times, but soon picked it up before anyone could notice he has. As for Paula, she almost stepped on Ness' shoes a few times. Other than that, everything was good. A few fantastic twirls were here and then, with a little fun and free movements. The people stared confusingly at the two, trying to figure out what they were dancing. The only conclusions they deduced it to was that they either were dancing an unknown dance, or a really improper version of the waltz. Even so, it didn't look as bad, and the spectating crowd still cheered at their highest when they finished.

Bowing to everyone, Ness and Paula gave a sigh of relief.

"Thank god that's over..." whispered Ness.

"I know... I felt like my cheeks were about to explode," Paula added in.

"Explode? Explode from what?"

Paula's blush that was trying so hard to fade away, returned. "Oh, you know! From the crowd. They were watching us and stuff..." She averted eye-contact.

"Oh! Yeah, me too. But I was more terrified than embarrassed," he admitted. "That was the first time I've danced in front of basically everyone."

From that point, they stopped their conversation when they saw their parents coming forth. They smiled to everyone who were still cheering, and quieted them down.

"This concludes the first dance!" Ness' mother shouts. "Thank you everyone! You are free to enjoy yourselves for the remainder of this celebration!"

Louder and vulgar cheers than usual finally erupted from the commoners, rather than the nobles. However, the nobles didn't let that bother them. They understood perfectly that tonight was the night to have fun and celebrate. If they didn't have the reputation and class to keep up, they'd probably join in with them. So with that, they all went to their own business. Some stood to the sides chatting, some went over to the food table to pile up layers of food on their plate that they could take back to the tables to eat, and some started to crowd the ballroom dance floor for a couple dance.

While that went on, Ness, Paula, and their parents gathered around near the throne area, where no one was allowed near.

"That... er... you two dance very well?" the queen of Polestar asks, rather than states. The rest looked at the both of them, telling them the same thing in their minds.

"We can explain!" Paula says. "We were just so nerv-"

"We were waltzing!" Ness interrupts. "I call it, 'The Waltz... With Improvisions'."

The four adults stood staring. Paula looked away and kept her giggles in.

"Well that was some dance. Where'd you learn it from?" asked his father.

"Me, myself, and I," Ness answered back. From there, Paula and Ness bursted out in laughter.

"Watch out, he's a professional!" Paula added sarcastically. That only tempted the two to laugh more.

"No _no,_ I'm not the professional here." Ness pointed at Paula. "I mean, she _is_ the one who is advanced in almost stepping on someone's shoes."

Paula gave him a look of triumph. "Well I simply _do_ try my best! But what about you? You're great at messing up a few beats at times." She stared at Ness with a serious face, who had one on too.

"..." They stared angrily at each other.

"Woah woah, you two, no use in getting into a fight," the queen of Eagleland advised.

The boy and girl didn't pay any attention to their parents, and instead, held that stare. A few moments later, Ness and Paula sputtered, and laughed even more.

"I'm hungry, wanna head to the food tables?" Ness asked her.

"Sure!" she agreed. Then the two walked off, leaving the parents utterly confused.

"I will never understand young people." The Polestar king announced. The rest nodded. They decided to just let them go though to enjoy their time together.

Meanwhile, Paula and Ness headed for the food tables. There, a couple of commoners and nobles were surprised to see them arriving, but kept to themselves. Some stared though.

"Oooh! Cake!" Paula took a plate and sliced herself a piece of cake. Ness stopped her.

"Isn't it a little bit too early for cake?" he asked her.

"Nothing's too early for cake!"

"...Good point." Then Ness, too, got a plate and dug into a triple-decker strawberry cake. Standing near the table, they went into digging into their cakes while standing. There weren't anymore free tables left, and they weren't going to go to the trouble of demanding a seat from a commoner's family because royalty should always have a seat. But it's not like they were the only ones standing, of course.

"Mmmm... delicious!" Paula compliments. "Strawberry has always been my favorite." She smiled.

"I like vanilla better," said Ness, licking the remaining frosting off of his fork. He looked toward the dance floor where everyone was dancing. Mainly at the commoners. He wasn't looking at how they were dancing, but their complexion. They could be easily sorted out of the royal family. That's not what bothered him though. A man, tall, white, with faint orange hair danced alongside a woman that could be his wife.

Ness had to admit it. He still hasn't gotten over _him_. Orange hair, green eyes. _Orange hair, green eyes._

_Why did he have to get away?! _Ness thought aggressively. _I didn't even get to know him... He looked so... so... _Ness couldn't find the word. But he has wished to meet him again. He didn't know why, but his character, the way he slipped away so easily, it deeply intrigued Ness. Like a mystery.

"Ummm... Ness?" Paula brought her full attention to him. "Are you okay?"

Ness blinked a few times, then turned his gaze to Paula. "Oh, yeah. I am."

"Really? You seem distracted."

"I'm not distracted..." Ness covered up with a little laugh as he looked back to the dance floor. "I'm just thinking."

"It's nothing bad... right?"

"No, it's not. At least, I hope it isn't," Ness mentioned. He doesn't know. All he does know is that he wants to see him again. Although, he thought even deeper into the subject. That boy just _stole_ and _assaulted_ him. What if he was dangerous? What if he's some kind of undercover criminal that works for a big evil corporation that neither the king or queen know? This is bad. The random thoughts over the young boy just made him more interested.

_Orange hair, green eyes. Orange hair, green eyes._ Ness reluctantly repeated in his head as he stared off. His eyes wandered, not sure of what they're looking for. It just meandered in his trail of thoughts. When suddenly, a boy crossed his eye sight. Ness past his gaze across him like wind, barely sparing half a second to stare at him.

However, Ness' eyes went back to him. All at once, his eyes constricted as his breath was nearly torn away from him. There he was. The boy with orange hair, and green eyes.


	6. The Ball, Part 2

**Again, thank you for waiting! Finished this chappy and am ready to start on the next one!**

**Hope you enjoy and stay awesome while doing so!**

* * *

For a moment, Ness almost dropped his barely eaten cake on the floor. However, he caught himself from being surprised _too_ much. He set down his plate on the food table, and turned to Paula, who was already saying something.

"Ness! Are you okay?!" Paula asked worriedly. "You looked like you just saw a ghost!"

"Maybe I did!" Ness said. Then he looked back to the orange haired boy, who was there as solid and living as can be. He looked back to Paula. "Nope, I didn't see a ghost."

"Then wha- what's going on?" she asked

"Er, well, _actually_..." Ness was trying to find the right words. "I have to go do something. I'll be right back in a bit! Don't worry! Just stay here and eat cake and stuff!" Then he went off before Paula could argue. She just gave in and stuck around the table, finishing her cake.

Meanwhile, Ness approached the boy. He was far off from the food table, almost impossible to see from there. Ness' eyes just got lucky. The more he got closer, he could see what he was wearing more better.

He was dressed in a dark black tuxedo. His crazy cowlicked hair was still insane, but it was brushed neatly to fit his classy appearance. His face was clean, practically spotless compared to the last time he saw him in the market. Currently, he was leaning against a pillar with his left hand in his pocket, and the other out. He stood near 3 cute girls, currently chatting with them. It didn't take a genius to tell he was the center of attention.

_Ladies' man, huh?_ Ness guessed. And it turned out to be right, when he grabbed the hand of the cutest girl, and brought her into the dance floor. He bowed politely, clearly asking the young girl for a dance. However, Ness interrupted that.

"Hello," Ness greeted the couple. They turned to him once they heard his voice.

"O-OH MY GOD! H-HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS!" The girl immediately bowed. the boy, on the other hand, remained straight.

"Yes... Yes that's me," Ness said, a little bothered about how the girl's sudden shout gathered a little attention to him. He turned to the orange haired boy. "Well, aren't you going to bow in the sight of His Royal Highness?"

"Hm. Why don't you give me a good reason first?" the boy snapped back.

_Oh, bad temper._ Ness marked that in his head. _A little too early for that, is it?_

"Why don't _you_ give me a good reason as to why you aren't bowing?" Ness retorted.

"I don't have one." The orange haired boy smirked. "Exactly my point."

"Nice," Ness genuinely complimented him. The orange haired boy dropped his smirk, and raised his eyebrow.

"So, any business with us, 'Princey'?" the boy asked.

"Why, yes," Ness told him straight, "May I have this dance?"

The girl blushed, and nodded. "Y-Yes! I-I'd love to dance with you!"

"Um well..." Ness rubbed the back of his head. "I wasn't actually talking about you, sorry..."

"H-Huh?" Then who _are_ you talking about?" she asked.

Ness looked over to the orange haired boy. When the orange haired one finally caught on to the subject, he answered quite bluntly.

"Hell no," he declined.

"You will if I say so," Ness stated. Then he gestured towards himself. "Don't forget who you're talking to."

The emerald eyed boy groaned quietly, then took Ness' hand. "Whatever."

_I win~_ Ness sang in his head, as he got in place with the boy. At first, the crowd staring at the prince thought that him dancing with another male was weird, but they shook it off, considering he was betrothed. Even so, they still stared upon the two.

"This is torment," the other boy said, holding Ness' hands, preparing to dance. As their hands made contact, a pulse of warmth ran through them.

"Oh _trust_ me, there's more where that's coming from." Ness smiled.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just get on with the dance. I'm leading."

"Fine, fine."

Being the one to start the first step, Ness began to lead the boy into the wonderland of dance. This time, he didn't need to count in beats. He was too focused on the boy. Right now, they weren't as far from each other, but even now, Ness could see and feel things about him that he hasn't noticed yet. Compared to himself, that boy was slightly shorter. His hands felt like silk, despite the fact that he had small scars on them. He had on cologne too. Ness sniffed it. And not just any cologne, an _expensive_ one. His suit, too, it wasn't something any commoner could buy just like that.

"So, did you enjoy the money?" Ness asked out of the blue.

The boy stared at Ness with his intense eyes. He started looking worried. "...What money?"

"You know..." Ness twirled the boy around and brought him back into his arms. "The money you _stole_."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied, looking away from Ness.

"You know clearly of what I'm talking about. Don't play dumb."

For a moment, the boy growled, one that was similar to the last time he and Ness got in a fight, except less raging. "Just who the hell are you?!"

"Out of all people to know, I expected you to know who I was. I'm disappointed~" Ness sang. He was enjoying this much more than he expected himself to. "Maybe I can give you a little clue."

Then at that moment, in the middle of dancing, Ness brought the young boy into a romantic dip. He neared his face very closely to his. Using that moment, the other boy looked deep at Ness. He examined every single facial feature he had on him. unfortunately, he couldn't find any leads on to who that boy actually was. That is, until he saw it. On one of his cheekbones.

With their faces very much near each other, the boy rubbed off a small layer of makeup on Ness' face. There, he found a bad-looking bruise.

His eyes widened. Then Ness finally brought him up again.

"Y-You... you're... y-you're..." the boy stammered. His arms shook in Ness'.

"The one that you punched and stole from. I hope you're happy." Ness' voice was serious now. "You realize what I can do to you, right?"

Trying his best to wipe off the scared expression off his own face, he looked angrily at him. "I-I'm not scared."

"You're trembling. You may seem tough, but once you're scared, even you can't seem to lie." Ness smirked. The boy finally gave up and showed Ness his complete and utter fear. The fear ran through every part of his body, and even Ness could see it in his eyes. Those eyes that usually burn with intense passion and strength, now blown out of its flame. The radiant emerald, now a dull green.

"I... I..." The boy didn't know what to do. He has just found out he punched and stole from the prince of _all _people! He didn't want to die. He had to... _run_.

Ness raised an eyebrow. It wasn't until now that he finally considered that he went too far. "Hey... are you oka-"

In the middle of that sentence, the boy lightly pushed Ness off of him, and escaped him grip. Then he started running.

"Wait I didn't mean to- WAIT!" The prince shouted. He acted on impulse and began running. Through the tables, and past all the guests who were enjoying themselves. He ran and ran and ran after him.

Catching attention of many, people looked over to see the prince running.

"WAIT! PLEASE! I'm sorry!" Ness called. He shouldn't have scared him like that. Now he felt bad. Maybe what he did was wrong. No, it was wrong. He couldn't let him get away like this. He'll probably never see him again if he does.

So he ran without caring who saw him. People were surprised at the prince's sudden vulgar acts. Running in the ballroom was not considered mannerful. By now, everyone's attention were practically on the prince. However, the Eagleland and Polestar rulers were too distracted by each other's company to notice what was happening around them. Until a man came up to them.

"Your Highnesses!" a duke called, interrupting their conversation.

The Eagleland king was the one to respond. "Ehem, it is not exactly polite to interrupt your higher-ups."

"I'm deeply sorry! But your son- the prince is-"

"MY DRESS! OH!" a lady's voice rang across the room. The kings and queens looked over to her, and that basically was self explanatory. The duke needed to speak no longer.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Ness apologized. He accidentally knocked the woman's drink out of her hands and onto her dress. He took that little moment to apologize, and still continued after that boy.

_Where is he going?! _Ness complained inside his head. And now he knew where. That boy was running out of the ballroom. He followed suit, trying not to hit anyone else. Before he knew it, he went through the side doors where the commoners went through to get inside.

"Son? SON!" The king called, but Ness was already through the side doors and out. However, it didn't lead outside, it led into the complicated hallways.

"Alert the guards!" The king boomed.

"Already on it!" a guard shouted, grouping with a few other heavy armored men. They tracked those two down.

The guests of the ballroom were completely horrified. Their faces showed either fear or confusement. They had no idea what was going on, and with their imaginations to formulate what probably happened was not helping in the slightest. The queen saw this, and went to calm down the crowd.

"Everyone! Do not worry! The problem is now being dealt with, and shall be solved without further trouble. Now, you may resume what you were doing. This celebration's not over yet."

"You're right. It's not over," a young man, clearly a commoner said, "but now it is. This celebration was to honor His Royal Highness and his betrothed. It can't very well be called a celebration if your son, the _prince,_ is into his shenanigans _again_. I'm leaving." Then he took his wife's hand, and went out the doors.

Another man rose his voice too. "I agree. I used to think this kingdom would flourish as it is right now as long as possible. But when that _prince_ takes the throne. Well, I'm not sure if he could take care of this kingdom's problems... if he can't take care of his." Then he took his daughter out of the ballroom.

More and more followed behind, however, a young girl's voice rose before anymore could leave.

"YOU'RE WRONG!" her voice rang through the whole ballroom. It was Princess Paula.

"Daughter..." her father was about to quiet her, but she ignored him.

"No one, absolutely _no _one can make accusations of what the future will be like for this kingdom!" she shouted for everyone to hear. "You all say that Prince Ness is immature, unprincely, and even more worse names that I will not mention. But he's human too. He cannot be the perfect little prince figure you all want him to be! You all just need to believe in him-"

"WE CAN'T!" a woman interrupted. "We try believing in that prince, but he messes up every single time! What if he messes up when he's king-"

Paula interrupted back. "Everyone makes mistakes!" She then singles out that one woman with a strong glare. "And you... you can't just tell me you're a perfect person that has never made a single mistake in your whole life."

The woman quieted down, and didn't speak another word.

"That's what I thought." Paula then points her words to all the subjects and nobles of Eagleland. "I know... I know that Prince Ness is quite vulgar and his acts may do some damage at some times." She spared a moment to look at the woman's ruined dress. "And he's sorry for that. He really is. He, himself, is not sure if he'll be a great king. But no matter what, I'm sure when that time comes, he'll try his hardest to make the best for all of you. Despite all the personal problems he's going through right now. Being prince or princess is not an easy job as many of you think. What will make it even harder on Ness is if his future subjects can't even have faith in him. Even so, he, and even I, will endure it all."

Silence filled the air, as everyone thought the whole thing out. Small whispers can be heard. Soon, a few seconds later, voices arose.

"...WE BE-LIEVE! WE BE-LIEVE! WE BE-LIEVE!" they chanted. Those chants calmed down Eagleland's king and queen. The two, and even Paula, sighed of relief. When the chants died out, Paula continued.

"Thank you everyone. Thank you for understanding!" She smiled. "Now what do you all say? The night's still young! Let's get back to celebrating!"

This earned many cheers from the crowd, as everyone got back to what they were doing. When all was good and sorted again, Paula went over to her parents and Ness' parents. Once she did, the king and queen of Eagleland glomped her in their arms.

"Princess Paula! We are honored to have you be betrothed to our son!" The queen told her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you _so much!_" The king appreciated it. "If you were not here, it would have been a complete disaster!"

"Hehe, you're welcome!" Paula told them. "But that wasn't even the problem. One still remains. _Finding Ness_."

Ness and Paula's parents nodded at each other.

* * *

"WAIT! God you run so damn _fast_!" Ness yelled. He had been running in circles around the castle, only to have chased the boy outside the back doors. They led to the beautiful garden in which he had been this morning. As expected, the boy went into the large gardens. Following right behind, Ness entered too. He was kind of glad that the boy chose to come into the garden. He knew this place and its routes very well. It was true, it's a maze, but he knew every pathway. Having that advantage against that boy, this was literally his territory now.

Now into the garden's maze, the boy made sharp turns. Right, left, straight, left, right. Ness looked closely at his movements, and when the boy turned a right, Ness went straight still and ruffled through trees and flowers. He knew the two paths he was on would soon connect, bringing him face-to-face with his mysterious interest.

_He should be coming in 3, 2, 1... _Ness saw him heading his way, only a few feet off. Currently, the boy had a little grin on his face as he looked back. He thought he had lost him, but it turned out he didn't, when he felt himself being grabbed by the prince.

"N-No!" the boy broke away. He was just about to run away again, until Ness spoke up.

"No use trying to run! The paths are dead-ends from here!" Ness shouted. The boy immediately froze in his tracks, and turned back to Ness.

"Why are you chasing me?!" he yelled angrily. "You could have just let me go and sent the royal guards to come fetch me to have me hung or decapitated! Jeez, you're such a retard!"

"Well I'm not _going_ to have you executed! But maybe I should, considering you don't have a single respect for me in the world!" Ness retorted.

The boy's angry expression softened. "Y-you're not going to execute me?"

"NO!" he yelled. "But like I said, I should! But I'm not going to!"

"W-Why?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Now Ness was angry. At the boy, but mostly at himself. Why _doesn't_ he just have him executed? Why _doesn't_ he just let him go and never see him again?

"Well that's a bit stupid of you if you don't know the reason, Princey."

"I am seriously going to hurt you someday, kid."

"It's not 'kid', it's Claus, dumbass."

"I don't understand." Ness looked over to Claus. "Why are you so mean? Especially to _me_?"

Claus looked at Ness, then away from him. He didn't say anything for awhile because he, himself, didn't know either. "F-Figure it out. You must be smart enough. You're the prince for God's sake."

"Some respect you have," said Ness sarcastically.

"Whatever! So do you hate me yet, huh? I won't be damn surprised." Claus crossed his arms.

"No. In fact, I don't." Ness tapped his foot impatiently. "Surprised?"

"Very." Claus clenched his teeth. "You're hard to understand, dude."

"That's what I should be telling you."

From that point, their conversation ended like that. A long silence took place as the two looked away from each other, clearly having no idea where to bring the topic. However, the problem solved itself when small giggles were heard from Claus.

"...What?" Ness asked, confused. Claus went on laughing. "What?!"

"There's flower petals all over you! Hahahahaa!"

"What the-" Ness looked all over him. Flower petals and dirt ruined his entire suit, there were even some in his hair. "How funny. Ha. Ha. Ha." Ness dusted off the petals and fixed his hair.

"It is funny!" Claus laughed genuinely. "You look like such an idiot!"

"Well, your fly is down," Ness pointed out.

Claus stopped laughing and looked down at his pants. "O-OH MY GOD!" He blushed as he zipped it up quickly.

"Who's the idiot now?" It was Ness' turn to laugh.

"Shut up!" Claus snapped. "I wonder if it was down when we were at the ball..."

"It wasn't."

"Oh good!" Claus let out a sigh of relief. Then when his senses returned to him, he asked a question. "Wait, how'd you know my fly wasn't down?"

Ness froze. "Er, uh, you look really good in those pants...?"

Claus looked over at him suspiciously. "Okay, I'll buy that to save you the embarrassment." Then he laughed once again. "Oh my gosh... dude, you're hecka funny!"

"Eheheh... thanks..." Ness smiled sheepishly. "You're not too bad yourself."

"Huh? You really mean that?" Claus asked.

"No use lying to you."

"I see..." Claus looked down at his hands, and started fiddling with his fingers. From Ness' point of view, he could see him taking out a pen and writing something on a piece of paper, but ignored it. Then, in the most quiet voice ever, he said, "T-Thanks..."

Ness was a bit surprised from him saying that, but accepted it happily. "You're welcome!" He smiled.

"Hey! Don't get used to me saying that!" Claus shouted. Even so, Ness kept that same glad smile. Claus rolled his eyes. "Seriously... it's like you're a little kid."

"You're not that far from one either."

"Pft, I know."

Little giggles erupted from their mouths. However, they stopped doing that when a distant voice was heard.

"_Maybe His Royal Highness and the one he was chasing went into the garden!" a guard yelled._

"_You kidding me? I doubt the two could be in there! Besides, the garden is like a maze! Like hell you could get me to go in there!" another one shouted._

"_Oh stop being a pansy and come in here with us!" he replied._

"_Fine, fine! Jeez..."_

"Oh no..." Claus looked worried. "They're coming! They'll find me!" He looked over to the prince. "Is there a way out from here?!"

A little panicked for Claus, Ness thought deep into his mind. "No... wait, yes! But I'm not sure if it's still there..."

"I don't care! Just take me there!"

"Alright! Here, follow me, quick!" Ness began running. Like he said, there were dead-ends from where they were. Those dead-ends were from the tall, strong fence that divides the gardens from the forest beyond. It was put there to stop trespassers, as well as wild animals looking for food. The two made their way to that fence. When Ness got there, he searched near the bottom of the fence. Since he was very young, he knew there was a hole put into the fence on accident. When Ness finally located it, it was blocked by flowers and tall grass.

"Found it!" Ness said. Then he began tearing the flowers off to clear the way. "Just slip through from here, circle around the castle to get to the front, and you're home free! But be careful, the edges are sharp."

Claus nodded at Ness and was about to crawl through, however, he stopped and looked at Ness.

"What's wrong?" asked Ness.

"Hug me, Princey," demanded Claus.

"...? What the heck? There's no time-"

Since Ness was busy blabbering on, Claus did himself the favor and hugged him instead. It was a long and tight embrace, but once Claus was done, he crawled through quickly. When he was completely out and on his feet again, Ness called at him through the fence.

"Wait! Will I see you again?!" Ness asked, worried.

"Yeah, you will!" Claus assured. "Because you'll _have_ to, heh." Then he dashed off.

_Because I'll have to...? What? _Ness had to think about the last thing he said. It confused him, but he brushed it off. _It was probably just a saying or something._

When he was long gone, Ness turned around and heard the guards coming by.

"ACK! TO MANY FLOWERS!" A guard complained as he and the other two ripped through the bushes and flowers.

"Okay, maybe we should've just avoided searchin' through the garden..." another mentioned.

"Yeah, His Royal Highness couldn't possibly be- HEY LOOK! There he is!"

The three immediately went over to him. They checked every single part of his body, asking if he was hurt.

"I'm okay," Ness replied calmly.

"But young prince, where's that person you were chasin'? And why were you chasin' 'im?" one of them interrogates.

This is exactly what Ness feared. "How about we skip the questions and head back to the castle?"

"Why?"

"Because if you guys choose not to, I'll leave you here in the garden where you guys will never find your way out."

The guards looked at each other, then at him. "Deal."

"Great." From there on, no one asked any questions, and the guards just basically left him alone. They made it back to castle safe and sound. As soon as they entered, they walked Ness back to the ballroom, which wasn't to his surprise, empty. His mother had her arms crossed with the most angriest face ever, and as for his father, well, he was straight faced.

"Your Highnesses, he has been found."

"Thank you, Tamold, Jason, and Francis. Dismissed."

The three bowed, then exited. Ness stood on the red carpet in front of them again, nervous.

"Again, you got into trouble," said the queen. "_Again_. It may not seem as severe as last time, but you left it to Princess Paula to clear out your name!"

Ness looked confused. "She did...?"

"Yes. Once you made a big, rude, unmannered, commotion in the middle of the ball, it happened to _offend_ some of the people when you left the ballroom. Everyone was on the brink of leaving, until Paula stood up for you. She talked to the guests for a bit, and managed to get on everyone's good side. If she wasn't there, everything would have been ruined! Young man, you should be _thankful_."

All at once, Ness felt bad and hung his head down.

"As you can see, the ball has ended already, and the rulers of Polestar have left. Princess Paula will be coming back next weekend. Take that time to think about what you did, and apologize to her."

"Yes, mom."

"And besides that, what in the world happened?! Who were you chasing? Did he hurt you? Did you really have to resolve into chasing that man away?" the queen asked. She didn't see who Ness was chasing quite clearly.

"I...I..." Ness bit his lip. "I'm sorry... I can't tell you."

The mother sat there with her mouth wide open. "You cannot tell me? Young man, you better speak up, immediately!" she said. Never once had her son deny to tell the truth.

"Dear," finally, the king spoke up. This brought alarm to Ness.

_Great, what's he going to say this time? Probably something of how he's so disappointed in me and how I make him look bad because I can't be his perfect figure of a prince!_ Ness thought. He didn't want to take any more of his father's words. His mom was okay, but not him.

"I think we should just let Ness be."

Ness raised his head in surprise. He looked at his father with wide eyes. His mouth was agape.

".._What_?" The queen was in utter shock. "Why?! He is in trouble and he shouldn't be keeping secrets from us!"

"That is true, everything you say, but... Ness, he's a good boy." He switched his gaze from his wife to his son. "It's true, you are a good boy, and you mean the best. If you made a mistake, it was probably from accident. Sure, you mess up a lot, but it's okay. Paula's right. What you did during the ball, it wasn't meant to do any harm, was it? Of course not, because it's you. You don't need to tell us what you did. I trust you did what you thought was the best for the moment. And... you definitely don't act like a proper prince..."

Ness paid full attention, showing his dad that he was listening.

"But you'll get there." The king smiled. The queen's expression was fully surprised.

"Dad..." Ness' eyes reddened. He felt like crying at that moment, but held it in. "I... I'll make you proud!" He blinked away the tears. His dad got up, and when he did, Ness ran into his arms and gave him a tight hug.

Unlike Ness, his dad was letting out his tears like there was no tomorrow. The queen sat there, smiling at the two of them. Finally, the king understood.

"I love you, Ness." The king ruffled his dirty hair. "Did you like the bracelet I made for you?"

Ness came out of the hug. "I did! It's right here-" He reached deep into his pocket that he kept it in. Nothing. "Er... Give me a sec." He looked in all his pockets, but found nothing.

"I really do hope you haven't lost it, I made that bracelet from smelting one of the priceless golden vases past down from our ancestors."

_Oh god, where is it?! _Ness fumbled through his pockets. He felt nothing, however, in a certain pocket, he felt something. Not the bracelet, but... a piece of paper? It was folded, and on the outside of it, in pencil was written, 'From Claus:'.

Ness stared blankly at it. Then looked at his father. He was thinking the same thing as he was.

"What is that?" he asked, reaching for it.

"N-Nothing! Just a blank piece of paper of reminders for myself!" Ness stuffed it back in his pocket. "Um, may I be excused?"

"You may, but-"

"OKAY THANKS!" Ness darted out of the ballroom and straight to his room. Once he got there, he sat on the side of his bed and opened the note.

On the inside was written:

_To Princey:_

_I bet you're wondering where your precious little bracelet is? I'll have you know, you won't find it! That's right, I took it. Now come and get it! Little mutt! ;) I'll be at Town Square tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Be there. I'm only giving you tomorrow. _

_...By the way, if you're wondering how I managed to get your shmancy bracelet, I could see the outline of it through your pocket. It looks like it's worth millions. Dude, you need to be more careful. Dumbass... _

"..." Ness stared blankly at the note.

"THAT LITTLE- WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?! HOW DID HE EVEN SNEAK THIS NOTE INTO MY POCKET AND STEAL MY BRAC-"

_The hug he gave me before he crawled into the hole. That note he was writing in the middle of our conversation._

"...WHY DIDN'T I SEE THIS COMING?! I MEAN SURE THE HUG AT THE END WAS FISHY AND I FELT SOMETHING MOVING IN MY FRONT POCKET BUT I THOUGHT IT WAS SOMETHING ELSE!"

For a moment, Ness thought over what he just said, and lightly smacked himself on the cheek.

"Calm down, Ness. Everything'll be alright once you get that bracelet back. I just hope he's careful with it..."

Ness scratched his head in a fit of frustration. There was another thing he noticed as well.

_So that's what he meant when he said I'll HAVE to see him. Gr, fine. I'll sneak out tomorrow. I'll give him what he wants. I'll see him. _

_Wait wait... So does that mean he stole my bracelet just to have a reason to see me again? _

_Hm... clever boy._


	7. A Small Encounter

***bows down onto the floor* I'M REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR PROCRASTINATING THIS STORY FOR SO LONG! No, I'm not dead, I was just... really really lazy! I'M SORRY! Slowly and painfully, the reviews started cracking me back into getting off my lazy butt and writing the next chapter. Thank you all, so much! And I'll try to get the next chapter in as soon as possible! Thank you so much! And stay awesome, in advance! :DDD **

* * *

The next morning, Ness noticed a slight problem he forgot about.

"So, seeing as to how you're awake this early, your agenda seems filled today!" Duster said. He handed Ness a list, who read it over.

_10:00 am: breakfast with parents_

_10:30 am: arts practice (piano & violin)_

_12:00 pm: sports practice (fencing today) _

_2:00 pm: homeschooling _

_6:00 pm: Eagleland history review_

_7:00 pm: monarchy training _

_8:00 pm: dinner_

_8:30 pm: shower & self cleanse_

_9:00 pm: sleep _

Ness looked unpleasantly at the list. "What the heck... My agenda doesn't usually include _this _much stuff!"

"Well... If you consider the turn of events that happened the past few days, you didn't get to complete any of your schooling or training! Now we have to pile it all into a day! We need to get you caught up as soon as possible. So... The next few days, you'll have a full agenda as well."

Ness groaned. "Oh _c'mon! _Can't I, well, take this one day off? Just today? _Pleaaaasseee?_"

Duster raised an eyebrow. "Ness, you have something planned today, don't you?"

Ness smiled crookedly. "Was it that easy to tell?"

"Your Royal Highness, I can read you like a book. It's so easy, your book even has a 'Table of Contents' included!"

"Okay okay I get it! Enough of your figurative language! I'm starting to get lost! ...So?"

"'So?' what?" Duster asked.

"Can you... I dunno... Poke some holes into my agenda to get me a day off today?" Ness smiled and batted his eyelashes.

Duster facepalmed. "If you can give me a _good _reason, I might."

"I have to sneak back into town in your old clothes again to meet a boy that stole my bracelet that my dad made for me. It's made of smelted gold from a priceless vase that was past down by my ancestors. If I don't get it back and my dad finds out something is up, he'll be pissed."

Duster blinked. "Woah."

"Yeah... That was the short version for you."

Duster thought about Ness' explanation for a moment, and came to a conclusion. "Okay, fine. I'll try to poke some holes into your agenda. Just do as I say and don't argue."

* * *

"OH OUR POOR PRINCE! HE HAS BEEN OVERCOME WITH A COLD AND CANNOT MOVE!" Duster said, a bit too dramatically and with much exaggeration. "WHATEVER MAY WE DO?! BOOHOO~!"

A woman who was named Kumatora, was in the room. She was in charge of putting together the prince's agenda. Carefully, she studied the boy. "Hmmm... Those red dots look like they came from a marker. And don't they signal chicken poxs, not a cold?"

Duster gave his best poker face. Ness gave him the 'You are the most retarded person in the world' look.

"Erm, yes! That's what I meant to say! Chicken poxs! Not a cold! Oh silly me!" Duster laughed nervously.

A suspicious look came from Kumatora. "If I didn't know any better, His Royal Highness is faking this disease."

Ness and Duster sweat dropped.

"He's not faking! He's-"

"OH! ACK! MY BODY! IT'S LOSING ITS ABILITY TO MOVE! AH! I CAN SEE IT! I CAN SEE... THE LIGHT!" Ness stuck his hand into the air. "I CAN FEEL THE LIGHT TOO... IT FEELS LIKE..." He whispers the last part. "Pudding..." Then he played dead with his tongue sticking out.

Duster gestured to Ness. "See? He's not faking!" Duster went closer to his side. "I mean- NOOOOO! PRINCEEEEEE! WHO SHALL RULE EAGLELAND NOW?! WHAT ABOUT HIS BETROTHED?! SHE IS NOW INDIRECTLY AND MOST LIKELY A WIDOWWWWW! NOOOOO!"

Duster and Kumatora stared at Ness. Then, out of nowhere, Ness moved his hand to scratch his nose.

"Sorry, my nose was itchy. I can still see the light though." Ness looked at Kumatora.

"Oh gosh." Kumatora facepalmed. "Duster, just what the hell are you two planning?"

"We are planning NOTHING." Duster crossed his arms and pouted.

"How would I know?" Kumatora questioned.

"Easy, BECAUSE I SAY SO," Duster said that in such a way.

"...Hm... Okay, how about this? Since I _know _you two are lying, I'll strike you a deal. I'll give Ness the day off for something in return." Kumatora smirked.

"What's that?" Duster asked.

The woman turned her gaze to Duster. She smiled malevolently. "Go out with me."

Duster looked at her so surprisingly as he blushed.

"OHOHOHO~!" Ness smiled and nudged his friend. "You got it good!"

"S-Shut up Ness!" Duster snapped. Then the man looked back at Kumatora. "O-Of course I-I'll go on a date with you...!"

"Really? YES!" Kumatora jumped into the air in achievement. "Okay, deal! I'll write down Ness as sick today. No one will come bother you, Your Royal Highness."

"YEAAAAH! Alright! Thanks!" Ness can't believe the whole thing worked out after all.

"Eeheheh.. Eheheh..." Duster was blushing heavily.

"C'mon Duster!" The woman wrapped her arm around his. "I've got lots of places to show you!"

"O-Okay!" Duster smiled, but then remembered to tell Ness something. "Oh, Ness! The clothes you used last time are at the same place you found it, alright?"

Ness nodded. "Kay thanks! Have fun you two~!"

Then the door was slammed shut.

"Mission... Success," Ness whispered to himself, and got out of bed. Then he decided it was time to get into action. He snuck out of his room and towards Duster's room. He went over to one of his drawers and saw the outfit he wore last time, clean and fresh. He slipped those on and remembered he lost the hat on his last trip to town. Because of that, he used the one Duster currently used, which wasn't even different. He slapped that one onto his head and headed back to his room.

When he got there, he brushed his teeth in his bathroom, ran a hand through his hair, and that was basically it. He didn't bother to cover up the bruise Claus gave him a few days ago. He figured it would match his look.

From that point, he stealthily snuck out of the castle. Taking hallways that were barren, he made it to the side exit of the castle, and circled around to avoid any guards at the front doors to the castle. Carefully, he walked up to the gatekeepers. And being as pushover and foolish as ever, they let him through. Ness smiled at the rising gate and walked through. Following after, Ness checked a watch that he usually never wears.

_10:37_

Just about right. Considering the factors and conditions of the trip to Town Square, he should get there just in time. With that, he carried on, walking into the town. He took a few turns and such, passing by people and some nobles. When he did so, he held the hat's bill over his head to shadow his face.

In time, he made it to Town Square without trouble. He looked around for Claus, in case he may already be there. When he couldn't find him, he decided to just put himself in plain sight. So he sat on the fountain, which was in the middle of the whole place. Groups of people rushed by, working and talking. The sounds of the common hustle and bustle of the morning.

Ness waited for 15 minutes, unsure if he had missed Claus, or he didn't come. He checked his watch again.

_11:41_

Worried, he got up, and looked around. There were many people, but Claus' size would easily catch the eye and be easy to find. However, he didn't _find_ anyone Claus' size, nor any children.

That was when he heard it. Faint, but definitely audible.

"_N-No! Stop it, I have somewhere to be!"_

It was Claus' voice.

"_Aw~ the poor boy's gonna be late~" another voice was heard. It sounded like a boy._

"_Don't worry, I'm sure whoever you're meeting with can be just a little more patient..." another was heard too._

Ness looked alarmed. He started getting worried. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Claus was in trouble. So he started following the voices. He ended up walking down an alley away from Town Square, he circled around, only to be behind houses. It was like a hallway of houses, none having any space away from each other. Just side-to-side. But that wasn't the important part Ness was worried about. It was the fact that it was completely empty and quiet.

"_WAIT NO! PLEASE! Don't touch that! It isn't mine!" Claus begged, yet, in a still dignified way. _

"_Oh~ This looks expensive~ What does it say? 'I believe in you, Ness.'," a third boy, as Ness could tell through his different sounding voice, read off._

Because of that, Ness sped up his pace and continued down the bent alley. Until he saw them. Claus was there with 3 boys. 2 has him pinned against the wall, and another had his bracelet in his hand. Of the two, one had blonde, and the other had black hair. The one who was reading off the bracelet also had black hair, but it looked more brown than black. Silently, he hid behind a stray crate.

"Wait, isn't 'Ness' the name of that snobby prince?" the blonde boy asked.

"Don't be retarded, Ian," the black haired boy insulted. "Clearly that's another boy who has the same name as the prince's. Like hell he would actually have something the prince has."

The boy who wasn't helping pin Claus down, smirked. "Well then... who _is_ this boy, eh, Claus?" he said in a teasing way. "A friend? Who knew a person like you would ever make a friend again? Or is it..." He neared his face towards Claus'. "Your boyfriend?"

Ian and the black haired boy laughed.

"What a homo!" the black haired one accused Claus.

"Shut your mouth, Jake! Fucking asshole!" Claus cursed, then looked to the blackish-brownish haired boy. "And you're not far from one either, Fuel." He stared daggers at him.

"You know, Claus. You'd really be better off if you would just shut that little mouth of yours..." Fuel tightened his right fist, and readied a punch to Claus' face.

"Actually." Ness rose from his hiding spot. "I think you'd be better off if you shut _your_ mouth." He shot killer eyes at Fuel and the rest of them.

Surprised, Fuel didn't get to deliver the punch to Claus. He looked over Ness. "And just what the hell do you think you're saying with your one-man army?"

The three boys laughed.

"Ness!" Claus called. He held back a smile.

"Oh~ so this is Ness? The boy you fuck every night?" Fuel laughed. He then approached Ness dangerously. Compared to him, Ness was a bit shorter. Even so, the prince still stood his ground, furrowing his eyebrows. He could feel Fuel looking him over. "Hm, not bad, Claus. He's not a bad looker." The boy clenched his fists, and Ness could see him grimace. "But I can change that."

"NO! FUEL STOP IT! Lay a finger on him and I _swear_ to god I will fucking slit your neck!" Claus warned, trying to free himself. But no avail, Jake and Ian held him back.

"Wow, Claus, so protective... of _him_..." Fuel, held his head down in jealousy of Ness. Then slowly, he rose it up. He cracked his neck, and stared at Ness. At first, he looked very angry, but then that expression turned into a smile... an evil one. "Ah, I remember the time you'd used to care about me like that..."

Claus looked bothered for a moment. He bit his lip momentarily, then proceeded to speak. "BASTARD! Ju- Just fuck off already and leave him alone! He isn't even my friend!"

Ness' eyes widened at Claus. Claus avoided eye contact.

"He's just some dude off the streets. I couldn't care less about him." Claus grinded his teeth.

"If you couldn't care less about him, then I guess you wouldn't mind if I did, _this_!" Fuel, threw a fist at Ness.

Claus gasped. "NO-"

_Crack!_

_..._

Silence filled the air. Claus had closed his eyes when the punch came at Ness. When he opened them, he was surprised to find that Ness wasn't hurt. It turns out Ness blocked the punch by catching Fuel's fist in his right hand. From there, Ness took his other hand, and threw Fuel to the ground. He hit the floor with a smash. In the time being, the prince snatched his bracelet back and dropped it in his pocket.

"FUEL!" Jake and Ian called in worry, releasing Claus to go comfort their friend. Claus rubbed his hurt arm with his hand. The grip they had on him was really tight. When Jake and Ian saw the injury Ness caused to Fuel, they got up on their own feet, and dashed at Ness for another fight.

However, before they could attempt at hurting Ness, he took off his cap. When the two boys saw his face _completely,_ their mouths gaped open. Ness gave them a little sarcastic smile.

"OH SHIT!" Jake cursed.

"W-WHA?!" Ian froze.

Fuel finally got up, and looked at Ness also. When he did, he looked more than surprised. "You... you're..."

"Prince Ness. Now if you two won't mind... please keep your hands to yourself. I don't think those dirty ones are allowed to touch royalty, anyways."

The two backed up all the way to Fuel. Fear struck them in big waves. They didn't even have the breath to talk.

"Now that our introductions have come to a conclusion, I'd like to take a moment to correct all of you. Yes, I am the prince. No, Claus isn't a homo. No, I am not his boyfriend. And yes, Claus is my new friend no matter how much he denies it."

"W-We're sorry! Your Royal Highness! Please don't kill us! We didn't know!" Jake pleaded. Ian nodded in agreement, but Fuel said nothing.

"...Bow." Ness scowled. The three of the boys looked confused. So did Claus.

"What...?"

"You heard me. Bow in the face of your future king."

…Slowly and painfully... Jake and Ian got on their knees. Fuel was last to give into bowing.

"Thank you. Now... GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY SIGHT!" Ness stomped his foot, and scared away the boys. They ran out of the alley and out of their sight. But Fuel said something before he went away.

"I will get you back! I _swear_ it!" Fuel vowed. Then he left and they didn't see him again. Claus went over to Ness, who was still looking at where the three boys ran. When Ness finally put his attention on Claus, the orange haired one looked away.

"Ah... U-Um..." Claus rubbed the back of his head.

"Did you really mean it when you said I wasn't your friend?" Ness asked.

Claus took a deep breath in. "Yes..."

"Hm. I see." Ness gave him a disappointed look. Then he changed, and smiled at Claus. "Well, you're my friend, Claus! If I'm not a friend to you, so be it. But you'll be a friend to me. Yes? Alright!" Ness started walking off in a direction to reach Town Square again.

"Wait, wha? AH! Wait dude! Where ya going?" Claus caught up to him.

"I'm starving, let's go eat somewhere, I'm buying."

"Yeah but, you- er..." Claus broke out into a tiny laugh as a smile embraced his face. He put an arm around Ness. "You really are a stupid guy, aren't you, Princey?"

"Still have room for insults right after I saved you, eh?" Ness smiled.

"You know I always do~" Claus sang. "Oh, and you forgot something." He slapped on the hat Ness took off. Then he patted him on the head.

"Whoops, almost forgot!" Ness laughed nervously. "Would've been a disaster if I had shown up in front of people like _this_!"

"Yeah, it would've... Hey, wait. You showed those 3 guys your identity! Won't they rat you out or something?"

"The prince? Going around town? Happened to be hanging around a commoner? Highly unlikely that anyone would believe that."

"Oh, phew..." Claus looked relieved.

"Why? Do you care about me~?"

Claus scoffed. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Princey. I need someone to take me out to eat, is all." He grinned. They both chuckled at that, and continued around Town Square.


End file.
